How Liberty Media turned Formula One into a more enticing investment opportunity
Since US mass media conglomerate Liberty Media Corporation bought the Formula One Group in 2016, investment opportunities in its title asset –
Formula One (F1) and its popular motorsport world championship – have never been stronger, whether the interest is in buying a team, developing new driving talent or securing the rights to host races.
Advertisement
According to Dan Wells, CEO of motorsport investment advisers Dan Wells & Investors, F1's evolving business model has opened new doors for institutional investors and sovereign wealth funds looking to get a piece of the motorsport industry that was worth US$7.9 billion in 2024, according to Business Research Insights.
'It was always a very costly exercise to run an F1 team, but the business model has improved in the last few years with Liberty's takeover,' said Wells. 'If you owned a team before Liberty's acquisition of F1, you would now have an asset worth well in advance of what it would have been [without the acquisition].'
The investment options are diverse. 'People can invest in a driver's career so that they get a return on future earnings. There's also investing in circuits on the F1 calendar,' noted Wells. 'There are different ways people can be involved from an investment perspective.'
For a country, the economic benefits of hosting F1 races can be enormous. 'Look at what Singapore did with the Singapore Grand Prix [since 2008] – the amount of business the country attracts is huge,' explained Wells.
Advertisement
While traditional constructors Ferrari and Mercedes still dominate F1 to an extent, the field is seeing some expansion. General Motors' Cadillac have announced plans to enter a team in 2026, when Audi will also join, taking over the current Sauber team.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
04-05-2025
- South China Morning Post
Miami Grand Prix: Norris wins sprint, cuts Piastri's overall lead
Lando Norris lucked in to win a rain-hit and crash-strewn Miami Grand Prix sprint race in a McLaren one-two on Saturday that trimmed teammate Oscar Piastri's Formula One lead to nine points. Advertisement Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, winner of the season's first sprint in China, had a smile on his face again after finishing third with the safety car leading the closing laps before peeling off at the end. 'My luck in Miami seems pretty good at the minute, really happy,' said Norris, who won last year's main grand prix for his first F1 victory after also benefiting from a safety car period. 'I don't think I will be buying any lottery tickets at this place,' commented Piastri over the car radio. Norris got lucky with the safety car deployed just as he pitted for slick tyres, with Piastri having already stopped, and came back out still in the lead he had inherited from the Australian. Advertisement Red Bull's Max Verstappen was demoted to last place after being handed a 10 second penalty for an unsafe release that led to a pitlane collision with Mercedes' pole-sitter Kimi Antonelli.
South China Morning Post
14-04-2025
- South China Morning Post
Ong Beng Seng to step down from Singapore property firm amid Iswaran scandal
Ong Beng Seng, the billionaire set to plead guilty for his role in a Singapore corruption scandal, will step down as the managing director of the property firm he founded more than four decades ago. Advertisement Singapore-listed Hotel Properties Limited said Ong 'wishes to devote more time to manage his medical conditions', according to an exchange filing on Monday. He will also not put himself up for re-election as a board director at the firm's annual general meeting on April 29. Shares of Hotel Properties rose as much as 4.7 per cent in Singapore trading on Monday amid a broader market upswing, the biggest intraday gain in more than a month. The illuminated circuit for the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix night race is seen in 2017. Ong Beng Seng has been credited with bringing Formula One to Singapore. Photo: AFP The departure is a major transition for the company that has interests in hotels and other developments spanning the globe from London to the Maldives, with little indication so far as to who will succeed him. Ong began Hotel Properties in 1980 and has been a director at the firm since then. During his tenure, the Malaysian tycoon established himself as a high profile and at times controversial public figure in Singapore. His children do not sit on the firm's board. His brother-in-law David Fu Kuo Chen is a director. The 79-year-old has been credited with bringing the Formula One night race to the city state and won the rights to the Singapore Grand Prix. But his penchant for wooing the elite has backfired in the past. In 1996, Hotel Properties was plunged into controversy after offering discounts to two of the country's top political figures, then-deputy prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong , and his father, Lee Kuan Yew , for luxury apartments in the exclusive Nassim Road enclave. Both former long-time prime ministers were later cleared of any impropriety, and neither Ong nor his company were found to have breached any laws or rules. Ong Beng Seng (second from left) pictured with former government minister S. Iswaran (second from right) in May 2007. Photo: EPA-EFE
South China Morning Post
02-04-2025
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong ‘perfect for F1', resident involved in successful bid for Bangkok race says
The city would be 'a perfect venue for Formula One' and should campaign to stage a race or risk being left behind by its neighbours, a Hongkonger who worked on the successful bid to bring the elite motorsport to Thailand has said. Advertisement Bangkok is expected to be part of the F1 schedule from 2028, joining Japan, Singapore and Shanghai as Asian stops on an increasingly congested calendar that now has 24 events on it. With South Africa and Rwanda among other places also aggressively bidding to join the circuit, Hong Kong could leverage F1's booming popularity in China to become 'a serious player in international sport'. According to data released last week, the high-speed bonanza added almost 90 million new fans last year, with a 39 per cent increase registered on the mainland in the past 12 months. And with Las Vegas reporting a race-week economic impact of US$934 million from staging a grand prix in 2024, when the gambling hub said visitors spent an average of US$2,400 on 'non-race-related expenditures', Hongkonger Frank Yu Siu-fung called making a bid 'a no-brainer'. Frank Yu and Stefano Domenicali, CEO of Formula One, (centre) alongside Louise Young, chief race promotion officer, and Mark Hughes, of Mark1 consultants, in Thailand. Photo: Frank Yu 'Hong Kong is due to have a major international event,' said Yu, who was appointed to lead the technical team to work with F1 and the Thai government as part of its successful bid. 'The Sevens is great, we had Formula E, but other than World Cups, there is nothing like Formula One. And the amount of traction you get from it, is unbelievable.'
