F1: Liberty Media wants to duplicate Las Vegas GP ideas elsewhere (Update)
Silverstone managing director Stuart Pringle said the Vegas start-up operation had been a “massive eye-opener” for the series.
He told Autosport: “I think F1 have had a massive eye-opener about what it means to put an event on, that much I do know.
“Based on the questions we’ve had from the promotions team, talk about a shopping list.
“I’m not suggesting [traditional race promoters] are going to get a sympathetic ride [after this], but I think the whole experience has been enlightening for F1.”
Pringle added, however, that F1 and Liberty Media’s capacity to now create a bespoke event in their own image meant incumbent race promoters had to pay attention and prove “not above learning off other people”.
He said: “I will be going with a pen and paper. I will find it fascinating to see how they tackle it.
“I’m sure it will be an amazing spectacle. I wish it every success.
“What we need is a healthy championship. We just want every race to be the best it can be. That is beneficial for all of us.
“What I don’t want as a promoter is a championship that gets stodgy or in any way unexciting.
“I’m also intrigued to see what it feels like to not have a support race bill.
“We recognize that Americans do sports entertainment much better than we do in Europe. And just because we’ve been doing this [at Silverstone] for 73 years, we’re not above learning off other people.”
April 21, 2023
–by Mark Cipolloni–
Liberty Media is going all-in for their Las Vegas GP in November to raise the F1 spectacle to another level.
What makes it unique is that it is being promoted by Liberty Media and F1 and not by a circuit and this was discussed on Liberty Media’s latest investor call and on last week’s Vegas Paddock topping off ceremony.
“Las Vegas was a clear opportunity that was important for us to take, to maximize from one side what we believe a promoter should do,” says F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali. “And on the other side to leverage on this experience.
“I would say that the beauty of today is that we have a great bunch of promoters. Around the world everyone is really not only [competing] in terms of, let’s say, financial contributions, but they are also getting better and better in preparing new experiences for the fans and investing in new facilities.
“So that is good. So already, the effect of us being the promoter has really induced everyone to be better.”
“Of course, we are there to make the best business possible,” he says. “And therefore if there are other opportunities, for sure we will not be shy.
“But on the other hand, I think we are very lucky that right now the quality of promoters around the world is really very strong.”
“We need to be humble, we know what to do,” says the Italian. “But also I think that we put in place ideas that other promoters take with a lot of experience.
“I think that the chance for us to create the perfect experience for our fans will be input other promoters can use in a way that could respect the differentiation of every Grand Prix. Because that’s something that is key for us: every single Grand Prix has to be different, unique.
“I think that the briefing we’re going to have together on the Monday after the race will be very important, because from that we’re going to send a lot of input to our friends that will be looking on at us.
“Because the first that are going to see this Grand Prix with a different eye will be the promoters that have been working with us for many, many years.
“Of course, it’s also for us a big challenge in a positive way to show what we believe is the right thing to do.
“And therefore it’s a good place from where we can learn and improve the ecosystem in the right way. So I’m very positive about it. And I think that at the end of the day, next year, everyone will benefit from the experience we’re going to have in Vegas.”
“I think there will clearly be a learning curve,” says Liberty Media boss Greg Maffei. “We came to Vegas with a whole bunch of objectives. First, to be a promoter, partly because we had ideas about what great promoters should do.
“And we probably thought if we were going to opine on that, to some of our promoter partners, we might actually want to be a promoter so we can walk the walk as well as talk the talk.”
“We have a phrase sometimes called stealing with pride,” says F1 commercial boss Brandon Snow. “And what I mean by that is we want to share with all of our promoters best practices, the things that work that we know that we can scale, and we can bring to other partners so that they elevate their game.
“We have a group of people inside the company who are focused on building those best practices, and sharing them with the rest of our promoters so that we are raising the game across the board, and talking about what works and what doesn’t work well.
“And there are other sports industries that do this quite well. And we’re going to build on that as well. So we want to make sure that we take the things that work, and help them be implemented in other markets.”
Renee Wilm, CEO of the Vegas event, says that now Liberty Media is fully immersed in running an event, her organization has a much better understanding of what F1’s other race partners have to deal with.
“We found even over the last 12 months that we’re more sympathetic to the promoters because now we actually understand what they go through, day in and day out,” says Wilm. “Dealing with permitting and track design. Selling hospitality, building hospitality, and an inflationary environment.
“And I think we’ve been able to work with Brandon’s team to really reach out to the promoters and further enhance those relationships and help the negotiations and say, ‘Okay, here’s what we’re seeing as a promoter. Here’s how I think we can get to a better deal with you.’
“We’ve been able to really employ that for the benefit of everyone who’s been renewing this year.” Quotes originally captured by Autosport
Formula 1 eyes 4th USA City
Formula 1 already has an unprecedented three U.S. races — but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t add a fourth.
F1 CEO Stefano Domenecali hinted that he was open to exploring additional cities in the U.S. in an interview with Sky Sports. The series is already racing in Austin, Miami, and Las Vegas this year.
“There is a lot of interest in far East Asia, more interest in the U.S.,” he said, adding that “we have three [in the U.S.], which I think is the right number for the next couple of years.”
Speculation has gravitated toward New York City, but New Yorkers have very little interest in motorsports. Many never even owned a car, using subways and buses their entire life
“It would be amazing,” said Red Bull principal Christian Horner earlier this year. “A race here in the Big Apple, for example — what a spectacle that would be.”
F1 director of media rights Ian Holmes agreed, telling Front Office Sports last year, “Who wouldn’t want to race in New York?”
But the F1 calendar may be reaching capacity with 23 races this year and 25 the absolute max there’s interest in bringing a race to South Africa, but does it really make sense to race in South Africa?
How many sponsors in the paddock are from the USA vs Africa? Except to say they have a race on every continent, does Africa really help the series like a 4th USA race would. Nope. Never I suspect.
That race will eventually fail. Average incomes are too low to afford F1 tickets, so the race will always be a money loser and the carbon emissions to fly way down there with no other race to pair it with makes little sense environmentally given their reduced carbon emission goals.
Once the Brad Pitt movie comes out in 2024 F1 is going to be known by a lot more people.
If the Andretti team gets approved – then more for Americans to want to go to races and see. American demand is only going to increase.