However, instead of being put under pressure, the debt repayment accelerated. The increased prize money payments began in 2008 and the accounts show that these increased from $342m in 2007 to $521m last year sending Delta 3’s operating profit plummeting 58% to $86.4m. Remarkably, in fact, the opposite is true. The widely-held theory was that the increase in prize money paid to the teams to stop them leaving the sport could put F1’s debt repayment under pressure.

In a nutshell, the higher the direct costs of running F1, the less money it has to repay debt. If F1 fails to make these repayments then the sport could end up in the hands of the lenders since the loan was secured on its rights. To recap, CVC borrowed $2.8bn from Lehman Brothers and the Royal Bank of Scotland and in 2007 it made annual interest payments of $238.4m on this. Leon, you might find this worth a read…”As any seasoned Pitpass readers will know, the key to F1’s future is the huge debt which CVC borrowed when it bought the sport in 2006.

You can follow us on Twitter, subscribe to our RSS feed or get the latest updates by email. Stay up-to-date on the 2010 F1 calendar with F1 Fanatic. 30th September 2009 – Hockenheim returns to 2010 F1 calendar.21st October 2009 – Monaco moved earlier on 2010 F1 calendar.27th November 2009 – Canada confirmed on 2010 F1 calendar.

7th December 2009 – Silverstone confirmed for British Grand Prix.11th December 2009 – Abu Dhabi gets 2010 F1 season finale.Going to an F1 race in 2010? Tell us about it: Get the dates and times of every F1 session including races, testing and more using the F1 Fanatic Google Calendar Going to a race This is the official 2010 F1 calendar: Round

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