Formula One considers Grand Prix equity stake

Formula One's racing teams have hired advisers to look at taking a stake in the Grand Prix business.

Martin Whitmarsh, the chairman of the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) and principal of McLaren, said that DC Advisory Partners had been hired last week ahead of the sport's "Concorde Agreement" negotiations. Every few years the sport's key players, including the teams and the Formula One Administration, renegotiate the distribution of commercial revenues under Concorde.

However, after years of infighting between the teams, FOTA is keen to get them more actively involved in the running of the sport and so has spent the summer deciding on corporate advisers. Mr Whitmarsh confirmed an Independent on Sunday story this summer, which quoted Williams chairman Adam Parr as saying that the teams were looking at the possibility of taking an equity stake.

Currently, Formula One is owned by the private equity giant CVC, which took control of the sport in 2006. Reports earlier this year suggested that News International was considering a bid for Formula One, having in mind that private equity funds tend to sell-on their investments after around five-to-seven years of ownership.

DC will look at the potential of the teams to approach CVC about taking a stake, as well as a range of other options over the next few months. Mr Whitmarsh said: "At the end of the day, Formula One is owned by venture capitalists and one would suspect that they can't hold the sport in their funds ad infinitum."