Amid George Russell’s Push for Sustainability, F1 Puts the Money Goggles to Rejig F1 Calendar: “We See a Big Opportunity…”

The recent commercial success of F1 in new countries has become a boon for the governing authorities but a bane for the drivers. As a further increase in the number of races looms over us, concerns about fatigue and environmental damage are also rising. Previously, much like Lewis Hamilton, George Russell also voiced his opinion on the ever-growing racing calendar. However, it all seems to be going in vain at this point.

George had said, “I think we’ve had some good conversations with Formula 1 about where the future is and perhaps making things a bit more sustainable, not just in terms of flying but for all of us on this rollercoaster together.” But now, with the shocking statements on F1’s future by CEO Stefano Domenicali, everyone is scratching their heads. Furthermore, to capitalize on the growing markets, the plan to ditch the legacy tracks may as well be executed, as F1 now seeks more regional partners willing to shed bigger amounts of money.

As quoted by Speedcafe, the F1 Commercial Managing Director, Brandon Snow said, “We see a big opportunity in, I call it, the region… We’re really exploring that area of how can we find big, large scale brand partners that might just want to focus on certain regions before they go to a global position.”

“Our ability to put virtual branding into every race, but only seen in certain regions allows us to begin to break things up in a way that we can monetise a region very specifically. So every race coming into the market can have a brand but only seen in that region. So we can begin to then look at retail opportunities.”

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More regional opportunities, as per Snow, could come in regional sectors such as telecom. However, this raises another concern for fans, as the F1 markets that are saturated or mature might lose the races as a whole since the regional partners might end up paying more money collectively to gain global attention.

F1 plans for unending monetization

Formula 1 is undoubtedly one of the most capitalized sports on the planet. Ever since the Americanization of the sport has begun at the hands of the new owners, many fans believe that the focus has been on generating better revenue than better racing. Sadly, the statements seeking more money-making opportunities that may hamper the viewing experience may not sound good.

In addition to looking for regional partners, Snow talked about looking at other ways to put more brands on track. He added, “We can put LED rotationals, those types of things that allow us to then go to the market and say ‘hey, look, it’s now about how many positions you have on the track, it’s about the quality of that position and the exposure that you’re going to get in return’”, while believing it to open more spaces on track to monetize the races.

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We believe not all the tracks could accommodate such facilities, which would mean less revenue for the others. Thus, it could result in more races based on just revenue rather than racing. Meaning, more street circuits coming in as many rich countries and cities would be ready to splurge more than what the classics and mature markets do.