Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei insists that the sport is not for sale... admitting that if it was the asking price would be a lot more than $20bn.
Earlier this year it was claimed that Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), which recently sold its stake in McLaren to Bahrain, was considering a $20bn bid for the sport, though well-placed sources insisted to Pitpass that the "top people at PIF were not even aware of the deal".
Genuine or not, talk of the bid caused something of a sh*t-storm within the sport, for FIA president, Mohammed ben Sulayem, suggested the $20bn valuation was way over the top, resulting in F1 giving a legal rap across the knuckles which resulted in him taking more of a back-seat role, certainly as far as F1 in concerned.
Under the 100-year contract agreed in 2001 between Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley, F1 has "the exclusive right to exploit the commercial rights in the FIA F1 World Championship", F1's general counsel, Sacha Woodward Hill, and Renee Wilm reminded Ben Sulayem in a strongly worded letter.
"The FIA has given unequivocal undertakings that it will not do anything to prejudice the ownership, management and/or exploitation of those rights," they added.
"Commenting on the value of a listed entity, especially claiming or implying possession of inside knowledge while doing so, risks causing substantial damage to the shareholders and investors of that entity, not to mention potential exposure to serious regulatory consequences.
"To the degree that these comments damage the value of Liberty Media Corporation, the FIA may be liable as a result."
Speaking on the Walker Webcast, Maffei reiterated that there is not a 'For Sale' sign hanging over the F1 paddock, but this is not for the reasons one might expect.
"We're a C Corp, meaning that if we sell a division, we pay corporate level tax," he explained, "and then any proceeds we would pay that get distributed to our shareholders they would, in addition, pay tax.
"If we were to spin Formula 1 away, create a separate company and wait a sufficient amount of time, and have no plan or intent to sell, that asset could be sold down the road, and there would be no corporate-level tax," he added.
"So what I am saying is, the way we are structured today, given that tax basis, we would not be sellers. If we wish to be sellers, or even consider it, you'd need to do a spin and, spinning it away, there are other reasons why we might do that, it's not just to do a sale, but the way we are structured that would be very unattractive."
But even if there were a way to get around the tax rules, Maffei is admant that Liberty would be seeking a lot more than $20bn.
"I've said this publicly before, the Saudis have been partners on a couple of things, they have a race there, Aramco is a sponsor, but they never approached us.
"And, frankly, $20 billion would not be an attractive price. It's trading for 17/18, so why 20? I'd want a hell of a lot more than that. We're pretty bullish on the future."
Maybe so, but will Liberty be quite so "bullish" come mid-2025 as Max and Red Bull cruise towards title number 5... or is that the reason for the continued talk - and denials - of possible manipulation of the rule book?
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