Monaco boss reveals troubled F1 negotiations

May 31 (GMM) Top Monaco GP official Michel Boeri has admitted he is in difficult negotiations with Liberty Media over the uncertain future of F1’s most famous race.

The Automobile Club de Monaco president, who is also a top FIA official, confirmed reports that the main sticking point with Liberty is the F1 owner’s desire for more control.

“That is, let them rule the track, the commercials, the awards ceremony, the marshals – all of that,” Boeri told Monaco Info.

“I’m sorry, but we did 79 grands prix and as far as I’m concerned, it’s clear that I’m not close to following them in all of their requests,” he insisted.

“You might think that I’m not flexible enough, but I still think, as far as Monaco is concerned, that it’s not a grand prix that is modelled on the others.

“Contrary to what Liberty thinks, the uniqueness of each race is essential.”

Monaco’s current race deal has now expired, but Boeri reveals that negotiations have at least resulted in agreement on “the essential topics”.

“For the moment we have a continuous dialogue and everyone plays their role – they are there to take our advantages and we are there to keep them. They’re not completely flabbergasted and neither are we.

“There may still be 10 percent to negotiate,” Boeri added.

Meanwhile, after some suggested it was a power failure rather than the poor weather that delayed the start of Sunday’s Monaco GP, a spokesman for the race told us that was in fact “not the case”.

Lewis Hamilton pointed the finger at F1’s new race management for being too cautious.

“We are Formula 1 drivers so rain is not a good enough reason,” said the seven time world champion.