John Malone is stepping down as Liberty Media chairman at the end of 2025. Most coverage focuses on his media empire legacy or succession planning.
I’m looking at something different.
The real story is what happens when the long-term strategic vision that transformed F1 into a $17 billion property transitions to new leadership. Liberty Media didn’t stumble into F1’s American boom. They engineered it through patient, deliberate choices that prioritized storytelling over spectacle and sustainable growth over quick wins.
Now the question becomes whether that patience survives without Malone’s influence.
The Gravy Train Everyone’s Riding
Liberty Media are long-term thinkers. They didn’t acquire F1’s commercial rights by chasing quarterly results. Their vision made the sport financially sustainable and attractive in ways Bernie Ecclestone’s model never achieved.
But here’s the tension: oil-rich countries are writing massive checks for grand prix hosting rights. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Azerbaijan, and Abu Dhabi. The money is real, immediate, and hard to refuse.
The passion isn’t.
I watched Qatar’s 2023 race where Max Verstappen clinched another championship. The crowd reaction was muted. Polite applause. No eruption of emotion. Compare that to Monza when Ferrari wins, or Silverstone during a Hamilton charge, or even COTA when the home crowd roars for an American moment.
Money cannot buy that energy. Liberty Media knows this. The teams know this. Everyone is content to ride the gravy train while it lasts.
The Geopolitical Risk Nobody Talks About
Middle Eastern events are financially profitable right now. But profitable and sustainable are different things.
Three events loom large in F1’s institutional memory:
- The 2011 Bahrain Grand Prix cancellation during political unrest
- The 2020 COVID pandemic that forced calendar chaos
- The 2022 Jeddah missile strike during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend
Each demonstrated that regional instability can shut down a race weekend regardless of how much money changed hands. If armed conflict spills across borders or internal political instability makes hosting unsafe, those lucrative contracts become worthless.
I think Liberty will ride this trend as long as possible. They’re not going to proactively walk away from guaranteed revenue. But I’d bet they have contingency plans ready. The 2020 season proved Formula One Management can pivot quickly when forced.
The smart move is watching the 2026 Concorde Agreement negotiations. Look at the get-out clauses. Look at how force majeure gets defined. If Liberty builds in more protective language around political instability, that signals they’re preparing for what comes next.
The Return of European Venues
Here’s the shift most fans aren’t anticipating: selected European venues will return based on fan demand.
Some events will go on rotation. The calendar can’t sustain 24 races where half lack passionate crowds. American motorsports culture is re-embracing Formula 1, but that doesn’t mean abandoning the sport’s heritage.
European venues have something Middle Eastern tracks can’t manufacture: decades of racing history and generational fan bases. Spa-Francorchamps. Imola. Hockenheim. These circuits carry soul and passion that purpose-built facilities struggle to replicate.
Liberty Media acknowledges the importance of fan engagement. They learned this lesson through Drive to Survive, which depicted F1 personalities as larger than life and gave American audiences the human stories they craved. The same principle applies to venues.
Passionate fans make grand prix events meaningful. Empty grandstands with wealthy spectators checking their phones don’t create the atmosphere that translates to compelling television or sustainable growth.
The American Experiment Gets Refined
Liberty made good moves with the American expansion. They also made mistakes.
Michael Buffer announcing drivers at COTA like a boxing match went too far. The first Las Vegas Grand Prix was over the top. Both felt like American entertainment spectacle threatening to overshadow the actual racing.
But here’s what people miss: Liberty is already making corrections.
Miami shifted focus from celebrity to racing. The event is now seen as a milestone during the season where teams add major upgrades. Less about who’s in the paddock club, more about technical development and competition.
Vegas dialed back the excess in year two. The racing improved. The focus shifted.
American fans want close racing and competitive balance. They value the stories and backgrounds about drivers and teams. Liberty understood this instinctively under Malone’s leadership. The question is whether new leadership maintains that calibration between sport and entertainment.
F1 needs to remain a sport with compelling entertainment value. The moment it becomes entertainment with some racing attached, American audiences will sense the difference.
What American Fans Actually Want
I’m an American F1 fan. I can tell you what resonates with the audience Liberty cultivated:
Competitive balance matters more than engineering dominance. Americans grew up watching NFL parity and March Madness upsets. They want multiple teams and drivers capable of winning on any given Sunday.
The budget cap helps. But the rules need to prevent teams from spending astronomical sums on marginally useful technologies. Racing and competition need to be central. That’s what keeps fans engaged.
Storytelling creates connection. Drive to Survive worked because it showed the human side of Formula 1. The rivalries, the pressure, the personalities. American fans don’t just want to watch cars go fast. They want to understand why it matters to the people in those cars.
Liberty applied this storytelling principle brilliantly. Maintaining it requires understanding that the sport itself provides the drama. You don’t need to manufacture it through excessive spectacle.
The Engineering vs. Entertainment Balance
F1’s DNA is the constructor’s championship. Engineering excellence. The best engineers building the fastest cars.
But here’s the reality: F1 will need to prioritize parity over pure engineering if it wants to keep American fans and justify three U.S. races on the calendar.
This represents a fundamental shift in the sport’s identity. Traditional F1 purists will resist. They’ll argue that dominant teams earned their advantage through superior engineering and should reap the rewards.
American audiences see it differently. They see one team winning 19 of 22 races and tune out. They want the outcome in doubt until the final laps.
The budget cap was a start. The next step is simpler, smaller, louder cars instead of the technological marvels racing now. The costs and complexities are astronomical, all for “green” technologies that may or may not remain relevant.
People want racing first and foremost. Hybrid energy systems are interesting but tertiary to motorsport. Liberty needs to remember this as they negotiate the next generation of technical regulations.
What I’m Watching For
Malone’s departure removes the strategic visionary who guided F1’s transformation. Robert Bennett takes over as chairman. He played an instrumental role in the 2017 acquisition and served as Liberty Media president from 1997 to 2005.
This signals continuity rather than disruption.
But continuity doesn’t guarantee the same decision-making framework. Here’s what will tell us if Liberty’s strategy is actually shifting:
Calendar composition in 2027-2028. If European venues return and Middle Eastern races go on rotation, that confirms the pivot toward passion over profit.
2026 Concorde Agreement language. Protective clauses around geopolitical instability signal Liberty is preparing for regional volatility.
Technical regulation direction. If the FIA and Liberty push for simpler cars and closer racing, that shows they’re prioritizing competitive balance over engineering showcase.
American venue sustainability. Miami and Austin are likely survivors. Vegas needs to prove it can maintain interest beyond the novelty factor.
The Bigger Picture
F1 is pursuing a more balanced calendar. Liberty Media understands that motorsport ecosystems need time to develop. American motorsports culture took decades to build. You can’t manufacture that overnight in markets without racing heritage.
The Middle Eastern rounds face structural instability that no amount of money can eliminate. The American expansion needs continued refinement to avoid becoming a spectacle that alienates traditional fans.
European venues represent the sport’s foundation. Fan demand will drive their return because passionate crowds create the atmosphere that makes F1 compelling to watch.
Malone’s exit doesn’t change these fundamentals. But it removes the person who had the patience and vision to play the long game while others chased short-term revenue.
The real test comes when Liberty’s new leadership faces a choice between immediate profit and sustainable growth. That’s when we’ll know if Malone’s strategic framework survives his departure.
I think they’ll make the right calls. Liberty Media didn’t get into position to acquire F1 by being short-term thinkers.
But I’m watching the 2026 Concorde Agreement negotiations closely. The fine print will reveal the real strategy.
