Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei will leave the company which holds the commercial rights to the Grands Prix in a few weeks, a sign of major behind-the-scenes maneuvers that deserve decryption.
At 64, the American businessman (photo above) stepped on an antipersonnel mine that we didn't see coming, except for the always well-informed business magazine
BusinessF1.
According to this source, tensions between Maffei and his direct boss, the owner of the Liberty empire John Malone, had recently escalated and it must be believed that the point of no return has been crossed.
Result of the races: the manager was asked to give up his apron despite the impressive results of Formula 1 on the commercial level and the deal recently made with Dorna for the takeover of MotoGP.
A profitable business
Maffei has supported the resumption of F1 since the start of talks at the end of 2016 by overseeing the efforts of Chase Carey and his deputy Sean Bratches to modernize and revitalize the discipline after the departure of Bernie Ecclestone. Under the leadership of Ross Brawn and then Stefano Domenicali since 2021, Formula 1 has evolved enormously to become a very profitable business for its shareholders but also its stakeholders.
“On behalf of the Liberty Media Board of Directors, I would like to thank Greg for his leadership, creativity and dedicationsaid John Malone. Since joining in 2005, Greg has been at the forefront of the exciting evolution of Liberty's life cycle. He grew our asset base and made the company better and more valuable to shareholders, while simultaneously overseeing up to five separate public companies.”
First class funeral
“Our company is simpler and more focused than ever, which is a perfect culmination to Greg's accomplished career at Liberty, he added. I wish Greg every success in his career and am grateful for his continued support as an advisor.”
A funeral oration against a backdrop of wooden language which does not explain the reason for this hasty departure. It should be remembered that Maffei was at the center of F1's refusal to welcome the Andretti team on the starting grid despite the green light from the FIA and was facing an investigation by the American Department of Justice for abuse of position. dominant.
The explosive Andretti file
Mario Andretti, the 1978 Formula 1 World Champion who drew political attention to the issue, told NBC
News : “Maffei assured me that he would do everything in his power to ensure that Michael Andretti would never be able to join the Formula 1 grid. This is something that really shocked me. We are talking about business, I didn't think not that it could be that personal…”
The Andretti affair may therefore have cost Maffei his place, whose withdrawal could reopen negotiations in order to allow an eleventh team to join the world championship in 2026 after having been approved by the new version of the Concorde Agreements linking the FIA, FOM and the teams.
