F1 teams back away from buying shares

F1 teams are backing away from new owner Liberty's offer of shares in the sport they compete in.

We have reported that Liberty is offering up to 20pc of the sport's commercial rights to the teams on favourable terms, although the stake would not include voting rights.

The teams have until the end of January to decide.

"I honestly don't know if I should buy shares," Red Bull and Toro Rosso team owner Dietrich Mateschitz told Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper this week.

Michael Schmidt, the respected correspondent for Auto Motor und Sport, now reveals that F1 teams expressed "little interest" in buying shares as the Strategy Group and F1 Commission met in Geneva on Wednesday.

A source at one top team said: "Without influence on the future direction and marketing of formula one, purchasing shares is not very attractive for us."

(GMM)