Monaco promoter sees European GPs in difficult position: 'Focus shifts'
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- Corwin Kunst
It was announced last week that the Monaco Grand Prix will remain on the F1 calendar until at least 2031. They are very happy about that in the Principality, especially given that European GPs are under pressure. Or at least, will be, according to Michel Boeri, president of Automobile Club de Monaco.
Indeed, Boeri says in an interview with Monaco Info that Liberty Media plans to organise more and more races outside Europe in the coming years. The fact that the current calendar already has 24 weekends means that European weekends will be scrapped and/or promoters will have to start alternating.
Boeri says that Libert Media are planning to have more weekends outside of Europe. As for example, F1's CEO and President Stefano Domenicali has underlined on multiple occasions that in the forseablee future there will be only 24 weekends on the competition's calendar, that would mean Grands Prix in Europe would have to be removed, or would have to alternate on a yearly basis.
"Compared to the other European Grand Prix, we have a few small advantages, but above all we don't have to alternate," said the Monaco GP's President."We will be on the calendar every year, while not only will many European Grand Prix disappear, but those that remain will often alternate. I think that with the current demand for Formula 1, there might only be two or three Grand Prix left in Europe, and interest will shift to China and the other continents."
How true is that claim?
Currently, 10 out of 24 races are held in Europe. There is often more money in other countries and that is something Liberty Media, as owner of Formula 1, are keen on. Circuits like Zandvoort, Spa-Francorchamps and Imola do not have tens of millions of euros lying around to compete with promoters from Asia, for example.
On the other hand, many organisers and thus circuits have already secured long-term contracts. Austria (2030), Hungary (2032) and Spain (2035) all have a guaranteed place for now.
Firm negotiations
Boeri further revealed that extending Monaco's contract has been a complicated process, due to disagreements with Stefano Domenicali and a lot of bureaucracy: "The negotiations took at least six months. The problem was that once we had a verbal agreement, we had to finalise it with a 60-70-page contract drafted by US lawyers, with no margin for error, so we had to be careful. It was a legal battle and sometimes we might clash with Domenicali, who defended different interests from me and vice versa."
This article was written in collaboration with Kada Sarkozi
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