Breaking news
Formula 1
Williams received £10m from Mercedes to release Bottas
The Williams Formula 1 team's profit during the first half of 2017 was boosted by a payment from Mercedes for releasing Valtteri Bottas, Motorsport.com understands.
Dieter Rencken Lawrence Barretto
Edited: Sep 28, 2017, 11:48 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
When Nico Rosberg announced his shock retirement following his 2016 F1 world championship win, Mercedes recruited Bottas as his replacement to partner Lewis Hamilton.
Motorsport.com understands Williams received a payment in the region of £10million for allowing Bottas to leave, with Felipe Massa coming out of retirement to fill the void.
On Tuesday, the Williams team's latest financial results revealed the racing arm of the business made a profit of more than £10.4million.
The team's prize money dropped as a result of finishing fifth in the constructors' championship. However, the impact was reduced given the strength of the dollar, in which revenues are paid, against the pound.
"FOM (Formula One Management) and sponsorship income is broadly consistent between 2016 and 2017," Williams CEO Mike O'Driscoll told Motorsport.com
"The primary performance between 2016 and 2017 was driven by a one-off non-recurring item which we had to recognise in the first half of 2017."
O'Driscoll said he expected Williams's income to remain stable going forward, but highlighted the increasing financial challenges of competing in F1 - with talks about controlling costs ongoing.
"We don't provide forward-looking forecasts as we're a listed company but I can confirm we would anticipate the majority of our income remaining broadly consistent," he said.
"We're faced with mounting cost pressures as we continue to invest in our performance.
"Making commercial sense of an independent F1 team in today's environment is dependent on agreement of sensible cost controls and a much fairer distribution of revenue and we're a long way from both today.
"We're also optimistic that FOM will be able to substantially grow top line revenue and profitability in the coming years and boost returns for all of the teams competing in F1.
"Realistically I would anticipate that any cost cap would require a sensible glide path to enable all the teams to reach it in an appropriate way."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Where are Indians racing this weekend (September 29-October 1)
Next article Haas to run new brake discs in Malaysian GP
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Dieter Rencken
Ferrari has "hardest" step left to win F1 title - Vettel
Formula 1
Formula 1
Ferrari has "hardest" step left to win F1 title - Vettel
Kubica in frame for Williams Formula 1 test
Formula 1
Formula 1
Kubica in frame for Williams Formula 1 test
Sainz's Renault switch agreed as McLaren deal looms
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sainz's Renault switch agreed as McLaren deal looms
More from
Williams
James Vowles explains request for review of F1 cost cap
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
James Vowles explains request for review of F1 cost cap
Williams Racing is suing a local garage owner for £1million
Formula 1
Formula 1
Bahrain GP in Malaysia
Williams Racing is suing a local garage owner for £1million
Latest news
Ryan Blaney kind of faces a must-win scenario this weekend at Phoenix
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
12 min
Ryan Blaney kind of faces a must-win scenario this weekend at Phoenix
Catching Larson in the NASCAR Chase has to start at track where 'I suck'
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
1 h
Catching Larson in the NASCAR Chase has to start at track where 'I suck'
Verstappen charges from 24th to ninth as GetSpeed wins Portimao GTWC finale
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
WCEE GT World Challenge Europe Endurance 2 h
Verstappen charges from 24th to ninth as GetSpeed wins Portimao GTWC finale
Colton Herta “maybe underestimated the difference” from IndyCar – F2 boss
FIA F2
F2 FIA F2 6 h
Colton Herta “maybe underestimated the difference” from IndyCar – F2 boss
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe