Current crisis is 'massive opportunity' for F1 - Agag

Formula E founder and chairman Alejandro Agag believes the COVID-19 crisis impacting motorsport has handed Formula 1 a "massive opportunity" to restructure its entire business model.

As the world responds and adjusts to the coronavirus pandemic, the subsequent economic downturn is leaving many industries in limbo, and Formula 1 is no exception.

As the sport desperately seeks clarity for when it will be able to kick off its 2020 season, stopgap measures have been put in place to counter the current depression endured by the teams and F1 as a whole.

As the sport's chiefs and its constituents debate how to move forward, Agag believes Formula 1 should seize the opportunity to question its entire model and address its flaws and imbalances.

• McLaren hoping 'bold decisions' follow final wake-up call for F1

"I think generally for motorsport this could be an opportunity," Formula E's chairman told Autosport. "And specifically for Formula 1, this could be a massive opportunity to restructure the whole model.

"Maybe it’s an opportunity for all the teams to share revenue on the same amounts.

"I’m also hearing of budget caps of $125m, something like that, why not a cost cap of $75m and make it really profitable for everybody?

"It might be a good thing that the Concorde Agreement has not been signed yet, because it had all the original things that are kind of a burden for F1, with some teams making so much and some teams so little.

"The imbalance is huge in the Concorde Agreement. Maybe this gives an opportunity to completely shake down the whole system."

Indeed, teams have yet to sign the precious covenant that dictates the commercial and financial terms covering their participation in the F1 world championship.

Agag highlights the enduring inequalities embedded in the sport between the top teams and the smaller outfits, a disparity he does not understand.

“I don’t think it’s normal that teams that compete in the same race receive completely different amounts of money," he said.

"Compared to the football Premier League for example: If you look at the amount of money the winner gets compared to the last one it’s nowhere near the difference in money that the top teams receive.

"So that’s the new deal and it’s a big opportunity. And if people don’t realise that the world is going to be different after Coronavirus then they make a big mistake.

"The opportunity is there and people need to take it. We aren’t part of that, we will do our little new deal following.

"I’m not in F1 or running it, and it is run by very capable people, and I’m sure they are thinking about all these things."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter