Marussia absent from TV screens for the Australian Grand Prix?
Following a disagreement between Bernie Ecclestone and the leaders of the Marussia team, the latter may not appear on television screens during the first Grand Prix of the season in Australia.
Recently, Bernie Ecclestone stated that he had managed to reach an agreement with all the teams regarding the commercial agreements for the discipline, specifically the representation of teams during television broadcasts, from which a large part of the revenue generated by Formula 1 is derived, and then distributed to the teams.
However, this agreement does not seem to contain provisions for showing the images of the Marussia cars and drivers on television. When asked whether this lack was a handicap for his team, John Booth, the Director of the Anglo-Russian team, is reassuring: No, it’s just vital for Bernie, because he won’t be able to film us without this agreement.
However, Booth confirms that discussions were underway: « Nothing is signed yet, but it should not take long. »
This disagreement does not seem to jeopardize the team’s participation in the 2013 Formula 1 season. But for several days, Marussia has been making headlines more for off-track issues (Razia being replaced by Bianchi amidst pre-season testing due to financial problems, commercial disputes with Ecclestone…) than for its on-track performances.
