F1 Ferrari McLaren Concorde agreement's first teams to sign on future

LONDON — Ferrari and McLaren became the first teams to confirm they have signed the new F1 Concorde Agreement on the future of Formula One racing.

The agreement will cover the 2021 through 2025 seasons and follows years of intense negotiation on the sport’s commercial side.

“We are pleased to have signed up again … It is an important step to ensure the stability and growth of the sport,” Ferrari CEO Louis Camilleri said in a statement.

“We are very confident that the collaboration with the FIA and Liberty Media can make Formula One even more attractive and spectacular.”

F1 announced Wednesday morning that all 10 teams had signed the new deal.

BREAKING: All 10 teams have committed their futures in F1 until 2025 after agreeing terms on a new Concorde Agreement#F1 pic.twitter.com/NNDyVzBWtE

— Formula 1 (@F1) August 19, 2020

Ferrari is the only team to have taken part in every season of the F1 World Championship from 1950.

“This is the pinnacle of motorsport and it is natural that the most successful team ever in this series in which it has always been a protagonist, should continue to be so for many years to come,” FIA president Jean Todt said in the Ferrari statement.

The sport has been governed under the terms of successive Concorde Agreements since 1981. The teams, the FIA and F1 organizers keep the agreements’ contents secret.

“Formula 1 has taken another important stride on the road to a sustainable, strong future with the new agreement. This is the right deal at the right time for the sport, its owners, its teams and, most of all, the fans,” McLaren CEO Zak Brown said in a statement.

“A more equitable sport is better for everyone: greater balance in the sharing of revenues among all the teams and clearer, simpler governance that cuts through vested interests and puts the sport first.”

In a continuing effort to help fans keep track of the on track action, SuperMotocross is in the process of developing and implementing leader lights for the unified series.

Currently Supercross (SMX) utilizes stanchions in the infield that are triggered manually by a race official. At least two stanchions are used in each race as a way to draw the eye to the leader, which is especially useful in the tight confines of the stadium series when lapping often begins before the halfway mark in the 22-bike field. This system has been in place for the past two decades.

Later this year, a fully automated system will move to the bike itself to replace the old system. At that point, fans will be able to identify the leader regardless of where he is on track.

The leader lights were tested in the second Anaheim round this year. An example can be seen at the 1:45 mark in the video above on the No. 69 bike.

“What we don’t want to do is move too fast, where it’s confusing to people,” said Mike Muye, senior director of operations for Supercross and SMX in a press release. “We’ve really just focused on the leader at this point with the thought that maybe down the road we’ll introduce others.”

Scheduled to debut with the first SuperMotocross World Championship race at zMax Dragway, located just outside the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 3D carbon fiber-printed LED light will be affixed to each motorcycle. Ten timing loops positioned around the track will trigger the lights of the leader, which will turn green.

SMX’s partner LiveTime Scoring helped develop and implement the system that has been tested in some form or fashion since 2019.

When the leader lights are successfully deployed, SuperMotocross will explore expanding the system to identify the second- and third-place riders. Depending on need and fan acceptance, more positions could be added.

SuperMotocross is exploring future enhancements, including allowing for live fan interaction with the lights and ways to use the lighting system during the race’s opening ceremony.

Ferrari, McLaren first to confirm signing new F1 Concorde Agreement

SuperMotocross set to introduce Leader Lights beginning with the World Championship finals

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