Formula 1 reports huge fall in income

Liberty Media has revealed substantial financial losses suffered by the Formula One Group amid the COVID-19 crisis.

The impact of no races occurring as a result of the coronavirus pandemic has shown the full extent of how hard the crisis has hit F1 after Liberty Media released its financial results for Q1 on Thursday.

Across January, February, and March, income crashed from $246million at the same stage in 2019 to just $39 million this year, a total drop of 84%.

Meanwhile, primary revenue - which includes race fees, broadcast contracts, and sponsorship - plummeted from $198m to $13m.

Since there were no events held during the first quarter of 2020, primary F1 revenue consisted only of the elements of sponsorship contracts associated with non-race related rights that were recognized during the period, and no race promotion fees nor broadcasting fees were recognized, Liberty Media noted.

F1 is hoping to stage up to 18 rounds before the end of the year and plans to kick off the season with a series of behind closed door European rounds beginning in Austria on July 3-5.