Formula One’s new owners believe the UK television rights deal they have inherited from the previous management, led by Bernie Ecclestone, is detrimental to the sport – with coverage entirely behind a paywall from 2019 to 2024

Sean Bratches, the managing director of commercial operations for the Formula One Group, sees free-to-air television as key to the future of the sport but F1 will be shown exclusively on Sky for five years from 2019. On Tuesday the chief executive, Chase Carey, criticised Ecclestone as having a “short-term, deal of the day focus”.

“Free to air is critically important to us,” Bratches said at the FIA conference. “My vision as it relates to media rights is a hybrid of free to air and pay. Our plan is to balance the two but have a prominent, over the year, free-to-air voice. That is important from a fans, sponsors and relevance standpoint. There is the cauldron full of cash on the pay side and on the other side of the scale you have brand and reach.

“My view is a 30-70 model of free-to-air to pay, where you have a number of grands prix to be on free to air and then we can play and toil with the pay side to generate revenue that we can reinvest back into the sport.”

Sky’s coverage began in 2012 when the BBC was still showing 10 races a season, after which year the 2015 Formula One global media report showed a drop of 3.8 million viewers in the UK. It was the sharpest drop during a 17% fall in viewing figures between 2011 and 2015 cited in the same report.

Bratches was aware of the global decline but insisted they could not be renegotiate. “That deal is an agreement that we inherited,” he said. “They are done between adult parties at an arm’s length and my suspicion is that Sky is very happy and we are going to honour and respect the deals that were in place when we arrived.”

Cricket is an example of the issues of losing a sport from free-to-air TV. The 2005 Ashes on Channel Four hit a peak audience of 8.4m compared to the final day of England’s first Test victory against Australia in 2015 which had an audience on Sky of 467,000. The same year the Sport England Active People survey showed a decline of 32% in the number of people aged 16 or older playing cricket at least once a month during the season since 2007.

For Formula One, participation is not the benchmark but catching the fans of the future when they are young is crucial. Most followers will attest that it was in their youth that they formed an affiliation to the sport.

Bratches acknowledged that it would be key to their assessment of future rights deals. “Central to the thesis of our management of this extraordinary property is to serve the F1 fan and we are going to do that with rigour,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sauber have confirmed that they have parted company with team principal Monisha Kaltenborn, the first woman to run a F1 team.

“Longbow Finance SA regrets to announce that, by mutual consent and due to diverging views of the future of the company, Monisha Kaltenborn will leave her positions with the Sauber Group effective immediately,” said a statement. “Her successor will be announced shortly.”