Stefano Domenicali has rejected any suggestion that the Components 1 calendar is constructed solely with cash in thoughts.
Though the grand prix schedule subsequent yr may very well be 50% larger than it was for many of the Nineties, with 24 races deliberate, the main target has been positioned on additions that convey huge business worth fairly than assured thrilling racing.
United States, the Center East and Asia have been the markets by which F1 has expanded most, whereas the standard hotbed of Europe is in peril of being left behind.
A lot so that there’s a vital menace to every of the French, Belgian and Monaco Grands Prix, all of which featured within the very first World Championship season of 1950.
Will France keep on the calendar subsequent yr?
The way forward for the French Grand Prix is at present up within the air.
However Domenicali, the F1 CEO, has hit again at claims the game is promoting its soul as a way to merely generate as a lot income as doable – saying if that was the case, it could seem apparent from the composition of the calendar.
“Cash is necessary in every single place, for us too,” Domenicali informed Sport Bild, and reported by RTL.
“However we don’t simply take a look at that, the entire package deal must be proper. If we solely regarded on the checking account, the racing calendar would undoubtedly look completely different.
“I’m not promoting the soul of Components 1. That is the traditional change. We’re opening as much as the entire world.”
There has additionally been criticism that F1 is now staging grands prix in nations with disturbing human rights information, akin to Saudi Arabia and Qatar which have each been given long-term contracts.
The 57-year-old Italian defended the choice to determine the race in Jeddah, saying: “We’re offering the highlight by which the hosts need to current themselves properly. There are already first successes. In Saudi Arabia, girls have been allowed to drive for 4 years.”
As for Europe, it’s doable France, Belgium and Monaco may probably go the best way of Germany, which additionally was once a mainstay however has dropped off the calendar in recent times because the promoters couldn’t make the occasion pay – and it appears unlikely to return any time quickly.
“If I don’t make a name myself, I see and listen to little from Germany,” stated the previous Ferrari staff principal.
“They discuss, discuss, discuss, however in the long run you want information. It’s a thriller to me how one can’t construct a enterprise round a grand prix lately.”
Is the Components 1 calendar all about cash?
Like Domenicali says, commerciality must be an necessary think about planning a grand prix season – it’s such an costly sport by which to compete and the groups have to learn from the huge income generated.
And with numerous elements which have put Components 1 on such an upward trajectory – an exciting 2021 season, personable younger drivers who’re thrilling to look at and the recognition of ‘Drive to Survive’ – there’s a sense that in a approach Domenicali and Liberty Media can hardly go flawed.
However equally, every grand prix must have its personal identification. Clearly it could by no means occur, however what if a season consisted of a road race in every of the 24 largest cities in america? That merely wouldn’t work.
It’s a World Championship and has held that title because the very first yr in 1950 when the Indy 500, regardless of being a very disparate occasion as it’s right now, was added to 6 grands prix in western Europe to increase the attain.
Followers who defend the likes of Monaco are accused of being old school as a result of F1 has, with its a lot larger vehicles lately, actually outgrown the Principality.
There isn’t any query the game has moved on apace from the times when a season’s nucleus was these European races on a Sunday afternoon with Murray Walker and James Hunt commentating on the BBC, save for the journeys to Brazil, Japan and Australia at both finish of the marketing campaign.
Whether or not it’s one, two or, as it is going to be subsequent yr, three grands prix within the USA, so long as every has a definite identification there is no such thing as a purpose why it mustn’t work. That must be the case with Austin, Miami and Las Vegas and the completely different spectacles they may present.
The Center East, and the human rights information, is a trickier one. That’s a facet with which Components 1 has needed to reconcile itself – and given what Domenicali says, they’ve definitely discovered a approach to do this.