DUE TO RUMOURS OF F1 CALENDER SHAKE-UP, RACE ORGANISER SAYS ‘MONACO GP IS NOT GETTING AXED’.
Monaco Automobile Club president Michel Boeri says there will continue to be a GP in the principality after 2022, after confirming advanced talks with F1 owner Liberty Media. The F1 calendar is undergoing a shake-up with new locations being explored as the sport tries to capitalise on its popularity. But Monaco, though a rumoured candidate for the axe, seems set to stay.
The Monaco GP looks set to retain its status as a Formula 1 race host despite suggestions it had been set to disappear as part of a calendar shake-up.
The race in the principality – despite its limited overtaking opportunities – is often seen as the jewel in the crown of the motor-racing year.
But F1 owners Liberty are not shy of making change, as they have most recently shown by adding a Las Vegas race for 2023.
However, Monaco Automobile Club president Michel Boeri revealed there have been advanced talks between himself and F1 bosses, with a long-term agreement seemingly close to being finalised.
“I want to talk about what has been written in the press,” Boeri said at a general meeting of his organisation.
“People have talked about supposed difficulties after this year to stage Grand Prix races, with Liberty’s price demands said to be too much for Monaco and that our GP would be no more.
“That is false. We are still in talks with them and now we have to make it concrete by signing a contract.
“I don’t know if the contract will last three or five years, but that’s just the detail.”
With Netflix’s Drive To Survive series making the sport more popular and visible than ever, F1 boss Stefano Domenicali has a juggling act on his hands to manage the locations jostling for a place on an already-packed itinerary.
But though Monaco appears to have survived the cut for now, the Italian has been clear about his vision for expansion.
“We know we have to balance the arrival of new races with historic grands prix, and tracks that must continue to be part of our calendar,” he said.
“The arrival of offers from new promoters has an advantage for the F1 platform, and that is to force the organisers of traditional grands prix to raise their level of quality, in terms of what they offer the public, and infrastructure and management of the event.
“The interest that Formula 1 is receiving today in the USA has never been seen before.
“It would be wrong for us not to take advantage of this opportunity and we are trying to understand how to deal with this growth.
“There is also a lot of interest in the Far East. [Chinese driver] Guanyu Zhou’s arrival in Formula 1 is attracting attention and does not surprise us.
“Beyond Ferrari, in the end, it is the drivers who make the interest in this sport grow in their countries. We have seen it in Brazil, in Spain and there are many other examples.
“From China we have had new requests to host a grand prix, and Zhou has yet to have his first race.”
