Serious Fraud Office investigating Formula One over bribery claims after tip-off from MP

Formula One has confirmed that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has begun a pre-investigation into the sport following a tip-off from a member of parliament.

F1 was today fully focused on the Belgian Grand Prix but the real action is revving up away from the track.

In April, the SFO’s director, David Green, promised to conduct a “thorough examination” into allegations of bribery within F1 after being tipped off by Damian Collins, chairman of the Government’s Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee and MP for Folkestone and Hythe.

The Formula One Group’s latest filings confirm that the SFO has “indicated that the matter was currently in its pre-investigation stage and that, in order to consider whether the SFO should open an investigation, it would review relevant material to determine whether or not there are suspected offences that on reasonable grounds involve serious or complex fraud”.

The allegations relate to the Concorde Implementation Agreement, the contract which underpins F1. It was signed in 2013 by the sport’s governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and the Formula One Group, which was controlled by private equity firm CVC at the time but was sold to investment firm Liberty Media for £6.2bn ($8bn) in January.

The contract sets out the process for making the rules which govern F1 and in 2013 it was changed at the expense of the four smallest teams. Prior to 2013, every team, the Formula One Group and the FIA had a vote on proposals for changes to the regulations. However, in 2013, it changed to only give a vote to the top six teams, with the Formula One Group and the FIA also getting six votes each. It boosted their voting power from 3.8% to 33% and the Formula One Group paid the FIA £3.9m ($5m) in recognition of it signing up.

The contract also granted the FIA a 1% stake in the Formula One Group for the bargain price of £360,000 ($460,000). The FIA’s approval was needed for Liberty’s takeover of the company to get the green light and it made a £62m ($79.5m) profit by cashing in its stake.

The parties have all denied the allegations and in April the FIA issued a statement saying: “The Concorde Implementation Agreement entered into by the commercial rights holder (CRH) of Formula 1 and the FIA in 2013 introduced a new governance structure for Formula 1 and redefined certain conditions applicable to their relationship, in particular to ensure that the FIA be properly remunerated for its regulatory role.

“Within this agreement, a lump sum payment of $5m was made to the FIA as part of the global consideration received in connection with the renegotiation of the terms of the agreements between the commercial rights holder and the FIA, and of the Concorde Agreement, at that time.

“Following its approval, the Concorde Implementation Agreement came into force and this sum was paid to the FIA and properly accounted for. No individual received any payment out of this sum. Any allegation to the contrary would be defamatory.”

It added: “There is no conflict of interest on the part of the FIA with regard to its approval of the change of control of the CRH which has been approved... taking into consideration exclusively the terms of the existing agreements between the CRH and the FIA and the best interests of the Championship... The FIA could only have withheld its consent in the event that the change of control would materially alter the ability of the CRH to fulfil its obligations; it is obvious that the taking of control of the Formula One Group by Liberty does not create such a risk.”