Business
F1 is content that three races in the United States are enough to satisfy its market, and attention is now turning elsewhere to capture growing global interest in Grand Prix racing.
Speaking at the F1 In Depth event co-hosted by Autosport Business in Monaco on Thursday night, Maffei said the successful return of the Chinese Grand Prix showed what was possible.
“We were fortunate to be able to race in China this year after four years away,” he said. “It was a great success. With the addition of Chinese drivers, interest in China has exploded.”
“The thing is, when you have drivers and teams from a country, the cultural identity is very visible, so it’s great to see the growth in China.”
“But there is growing interest across Asia, as we’ve seen interest from a number of cities. But in Asia, as you correctly pointed out, we’ve seen interest from Thailand, Seoul and even Indonesia. There are a lot of places that want a Formula 1 race.”
“We really looked at where the fans are, where they could be, who can run a great race and who can frankly be at the races, and all the intersections of those three circles.”
“It’s easy to imagine a second one happening in Southeast Asia. [alongside China]. “
Red Bull Racing RB9’s Sebastian Vettel takes the lead at the start of the race
Photo: Patrick Lundin / Motorsport Images
Thailand’s prime minister is pushing for a street race in Bangkok in 2026 or 2027 and attended last weekend’s Emilia Grand Prix.
Business Las Vegas Lessons
Maffei was speaking at the ‘F1 in Depth’ event alongside key representatives from the Las Vegas Grand Prix, where he explained how F1 has gained a deeper understanding of what its fans want through its decision to become the event’s race promoter.
“We’ve changed the sport in a lot of different ways,” he said. “One is, it was very much a B2B business, you pitched your product to a local promoter and they sold it to you. But increasingly, through things like F1TV and the promotions we’ve done ourselves in Las Vegas and elsewhere, we understand our fans much better. We’re a direct-to-consumer business and we understand their needs.”
“That way, we can learn better over time, including in Las Vegas, and better meet their needs. So I’m excited to see what we can do together there. I think it’s going to be a great show, and I hope it continues to be as thrilling as it was the first year.”
Last season’s inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix was a huge success, despite an issue with a drain cover coming off on the first day, so Maffei said he expects this year’s event to be even better.
When asked what he expected from his second Las Vegas Grand Prix, Maffei replied, “Hopefully I can have an equally good race, if not better. Hopefully we don’t have any track troubles early on, which would be great! It was a shame because it happened too early.”
“I think the rehearsal went really well and I hope the real thing goes just as well. Some situations force us to act very quickly so I’m hoping we can learn how to optimize and do things more efficiently.”
Esteban Ocon, Alpine A523
Photo: Andy Horn / Motorsport Images
“I really think it’s a credit to my team and partners at LVGP how quickly we were able to make this happen. It’s incredible that we were able to literally go from the ground up to making a race happen in 15 months.
“I think we can do it smarter next time, more efficiently and probably with less disruption to the community.”
Source of this program
“This is another beautiful extension.”
“F1 is satisfied that three races in the United States are enough to satisfy that market, and attention is now turning to other territories to capture growing global interest in the Grand Slams.”
Source: Read more
Source link: https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-says-thailand-south-korea-and-indonesia-eyeing-races/10614520/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=RSS-ALL&utm_term=News&utm_content=www
