The Englishman hit back at Di Montezemolo's proposal to renegotiate the shares in revenues between F1 teams, revealing that the Scuderia already receives $80 million more than its F1 counterparts after securing the 2008 manufacturers' title. Also, Bernie suggested that Ferrari have benefited from “extra things for years”, stressing out “the 'general help' they are considered to have had in Formula One”.
However, Howett insisted that Bernie's comments will not affect FOTA's perception of the Maranello team, especially since the director of the group is Luca di Montezemolo himself. Howett reckoned that Ferrari's share of F1 revenues, as well as their historic status in the sport has been known for years and will not be subject to disagreements within the FOTA.
“He may be trying to (split FOTA) but all the information that was given is very transparent and openly shared among the members, so it was a bit of a non-event because everybody is aware of the historic status (of Ferrari). I think the teams are more united now because there are outside pressures on Formula One,” argued Howett, as quoted by The Times.
Howett also insisted that F1 should change the way it shares revenues to its teams.
“If you look at other professional sports, the percentage of revenues that is distributed to participants is probably much higher. I believe in the Champions' League it is upwards of 96-97 percent of revenues that is redistributed depending on where you finish in the championship, whereas at the moment we receive 50 percent if EBITDA (Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization). So given the current circumstances people would like to reopen that discussion,” Howett was quoted as saying by the BBC Radio 5 Live.
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