The wave of personnel decisions surrounding Formula 1 continues. As announced on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. German time, Greg Maffei will be stepping down at the end of the year. Maffei is CEO of Liberty Media. The US company has owned the commercial rights to Formula 1 since 2017 and will take over Dorna from 2025 and with it the rights to MotoGP.
Maffei’s resignation will take place at the end of the year when his contract expires. He will be replaced at the helm of Liberty Media on an interim basis from January 1, 2025 by John Malone, who was previously chairman of the supervisory board of the Formula 1 ownership company. Maffei will not completely disappear from the NASDAQ company. He remains on board as a consultant.
Maffei has been part of Liberty Media since 2005. He was quoted as saying at the announcement: “The nearly 20 years I have spent at the helm of Liberty Media have been incredibly rewarding, stimulating and endlessly eventful. “While it is never easy to leave a company as dynamic as Liberty, I am confident that this is the right time,” he said, explaining his decision.
In addition to Formula 1, Liberty Media also owns, among other things, the Atlanta Braves baseball team, as well as TV, radio and streaming services that operate primarily in the USA. The announcement comes a day before Liberty Media’s investor meeting on Thursday, where Malone and Maffei will comment on the leadership change.
After Liberty conversion: Andretti’s path to Formula 1 is clear?
It is not yet clear what effects the change will have on Formula 1. However, everything indicates that this means that there is one less major hurdle standing in the way of Andretti Global’s entry into the premier class. The traditional American team, which with Cadillac was the eleventh F1 team to defeat and pass the application process at the FIA, received a rejection from Formula 1 at the beginning of the year. This was supported by all current F1 teams, who wanted their piece of the cake don’t want to share.
In the background, there was personal animosity between Andretti and the Liberty leadership. During the Miami GP, Maffei is said to have told former Formula 1 world champion Mario Andretti that he would do everything to prevent Andretti-Cadillac from becoming the eleventh team.
On September 30, Michael Andretti stepped down from the helm of the racing empire named after his family, leaving it to partner Dan Towriss. With Maffei, his adversary is now history.
