F1 bosses hint at THREE new potential grand prix venues

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F1 News & Gossip

F1 owners hint at THREE new potential grand prix venues

Liberty Media boss Greg Maffei revealed interest from Southeast Asian market

Kevin McKenna

Wednesday 29 May 2024 18:57

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As Formula 1's global appeal continues to grow, the sport's bosses are setting their sights on bringing their product to new territories.

Following the success of F1's expansion into the United States market in recent years, Liberty Media - F1's commercial rights owner - are looking at three potential targets in Asia to host future races.

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The decision to expand the current schedule to a record-breaking 24 races has been criticised by some within the sport, and so any prospect of adding further events to an already congested calendar would likely receive some pushback.

F1 returned to China this season for the first time since 2019

The Miami Grand Prix, won this year by Lando Norris, is one of three US races currently on the schedule

'A lot of interest' across Asia

Speaking at an event ahead of last weekend's Monaco Grand Prix, Liberty’s chief executive Greg Maffei admitted there had already been strong interest shown from representatives in Thailand, South Korea and Indonesia, adding that the return of the Chinese Grand Prix this season highlighted the potential for further growth.

"We're lucky that we were able to get a Chinese race this year after four years, it was very successful” he said, as reported by Autosport.com. “The interest in China has exploded in part because we now have a Chinese driver.

“Critically, you see cultural identity so much when you have drivers from a country, and when you have teams from a country, and so that's been great to see the growth in China.

“But there's a lot of interest across Asia, as we have interest from many cities. But in Asia, as you rightly point out: Thailand, Seoul, and we've had interest from Indonesia. There are lots of places which want a Formula 1 race.

“We have really looked at the intersection of where our fans are, where they could be, who could run a great race, and who can frankly afford a race - and all those sorts of intersections of those three circles.

“I think you could very easily see a second one in Southeast Asia [alongside China].”

Ferrari Formula 1 Liberty Media