First signed in 1981 to end a governance war between the FIA's predecessor (FISA) and the Formula One Constructors' Association, the Concorde Agreement is F1's constitution — it's named for the FIA's former Paris offices on Place de la Concorde, where it was first negotiated.
It's not public. Unlike the FIA's Sporting and Technical Regulations, the Concorde Agreement's exact commercial terms are confidential between the signatories — most of what's publicly known comes from leaks, team disclosures, or figures the FIA chooses to publish (like the cost cap number).
What it actually locks in:
- Revenue share — how F1's TV, hosting-fee, and sponsorship income splits between the commercial rights holder and the ten (now eleven) teams.
- Participation obligation — a signed team cannot simply skip a race on the calendar.
- Entry terms for new teams — the anti-dilution fee mechanism that new constructors like Cadillac had to pay is a Concorde Agreement term, not a separate FIA rule.
- Governance structure — voting rights on regulation changes between FIA, FOM, and teams.
Every Concorde Agreement has an expiry, which is why "will the next one get signed" periodically becomes real financial uncertainty for teams making multi-year investment decisions — the current cycle runs 2026–2030.