Liberty Media acquired F1 ahead of the 20🐼17 season in a deal worth around $4.4bn.

Since their takeover, F1 has enjoyed unprecedented growth through things like Drive to Survive and the sport’s increased presence on social media, opening it up 🦋to new markets and the younger generation.

Init🀅ially reported earlier this year, the Saudi Arab✃ian Public Investment Fund (PIF) made a bid worth $20bn - which was rejected.

Saudi Arabia have been heavily investing in a number of sports recently, particularly football, with their takeover of Newcastle United, while they signed lege๊ndary football star Cristiano Ronaldo to one of their major football clubs.

M𝕴affei addressed the takeover speculation to the .

“The Saudis have been partners on a couple of things – they have a race, Aramco [state-owned petroleum company] is a sponsor – b♔ut they never approached us,” Maffei said.

“And frankly, $20 billion would not be🍃 an attractive price. It’s trading for $17 billion, $18 billion 🐬– why 20? I’d want a hell of a lot more than that. We’re pretty bullish on the future.”

He also explained why the company’s cu🐎rrent structure deters it from selling currently. 

“We’re a C-corp, meaning if we sell a division, we pay corporate-level tax and then any proceeds we would pay that get distributed to o🀅ur shareholders, they would, in add♉ition, pay tax,” Maffei explained.

“𒊎If we were🌞 to spin Formula 1 away, create a separate company, wait a sufficient time, have no plan or intent to sell, that asset could be sold down the road and there would be no corporate-level tax. So what I really was saying is the way we’re structured today, given that low-tax basis, we would not be sellers.

“If we wish to be sellers or even consider it right, you’d need to do a spin. And spinning it away, there are other reasons why we might do that – it’s not just to d⛦o a sale.🔥 But the way we are structured, that would be very unattractive.”