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The International Automobile Federation FIA is not so happy with investors throwing billions to take over Formula 1. “As the guardian of motorsport, the FIA, a non-profit organisation, is cautious about the inflated $20bn price tags placed on Formula 1,” chairman Mohammed Ben Sulayem said on Twitter.
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“Any potential buyer is advised to use common sense, to think of the public interest of motorsport and to come up with a clear, sustainable plan, not just a bag of money,” continued Ben Sulayem, commenting on the rapprochement of the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. Bloomberg news agency recently reported that those investors have tried to buy Formula 1 for 20 billion dollars from American owner Liberty Media. The bid has reportedly been rejected, but according to Bloomberg, an even higher bid will be made from Saudi Arabia later this year, according to Bloomberg.
Liberty Media took over Formula 1 in 2017 for an amount of more than 4 billion dollars from the British Bernie Ecclestone and has succeeded in significantly increasing the popularity of the highest motorsport class. Partly thanks to the Netflix series ‘Drive to Survive’, a young generation has become enthusiastic about the races and the ups and downs of Formula 1 drivers.
There is also a growing number of circuits that would like to host a grand prix. Formula 1 has a record number of 23 races this year. There were initially 24, but the Grand Prix of China in Shanghai has been canceled due to corona.