Carey says F1 has abolished $1bn of debts

Formula 1's CEO Chase Carey has revealed that F1 has eliminated $1bn in debts as Liberty Media reveal its financial results for the second quarter of 2017. Earlier this year, from April to June, F1 noted a 3% increase in revenues earning $616m.

Operating income fell from $90m to $45m as the costs of various events rose, such as the interactive and groundbreaking F1 Live, which was held in the city of London in the build up to the British Grand Prix. An offering of 12.9 million shares of stock allocated to $388m, which allowed F1's new owners to repay a second lien term loan.

A subsequent refinancing of debt has reportedly allowed that loan to be paid back in the full sum. The total debt for F1 decreased by $442m, but Carey said a total $1bn was successfully eliminated. He also admitted that spending costs will rise as the company plans to hire senior staff, but its spending plans would be refined before the end of 2017.

"The corporate head count has been sort of 70-75, and it has probably about doubled," Carey said to Autosport. "We're still building it out. We've hired most of the senior executives, but we haven't built the team out fully. We don't really have an appropriate digital platform today, so there are investments that we've made to support a digital platform for us going forward. In the next few months for the first time we're refining our plans around that."

Fergal Walsh