Formula 1 owners Liberty Media have been hit with the shock resignation of their CEO, ahead of a key deal expiring in 2025.
Having spearheaded the move to take over the sport back in 2017, Greg Maffei will leave his role at the company at the end of the year, with commercial deals tying the 10 top teams to the sport currently being renegotiated before they expire at the end of 2025.
The company are an American mass media brand that were founded back in 1991. As well as F1, the company announced earlier this year that they had acquired another motorsport series in Moto GP, in a $4.2billion acquisition.
Liberty Media's influence on F1 has been clear to see, with the sport growing exponentially into new countries, and expanding in the US market thanks in part to the success of hit Netflix series Drive to Survive.
Liberty Media recently acquired Moto GPNiels Wittich quit his role as FIA race director earlier this week
Maffei to leave Liberty Media
Now, Liberty Media have confirmed that Maffei will leave his position as CEO at the end of 2024, and will be replaced on an interim basis by chairman John Malone.
Maffei becomes the second high-profile F1 exit of the week, following the news that FIA race director Niels Wittich will leave his role immediately.
In a statement, Maffei said: "The almost 20 years I have spent at the helm of Liberty Media have been incredibly rewarding, stimulating and endlessly eventful.
"Following today’s announcements at Liberty Media and Liberty Broadband, all the Liberty acquisitions completed during my tenure are now in structures where shareholders can have more direct ownership in their upside.
"The corporate structure is optimised, and the portfolio companies are in strong positions with talented executive teams in place.
"While it’s never easy to leave an organisation as dynamic as Liberty, I am confident that this is the right time. I have thoroughly enjoyed working alongside and learning from John, our board, the management teams at Liberty and across the family of companies and our shareholders."
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