Will we see a Grand Prix again in France by the end of the decade? The matter is now insolvent. While F1’s last visit to France dates back to 2022 at Le Castellet, the project of a return to the French round calendar really does not seem to be on the agenda. At a time when the FOM is overwhelmed by demands, particularly from rich countries in the development phase, France would not show enough will to re-obtain the organization of its race in the coming years.
In any case, this is what the boss of the FOM, the Italian Stefano Domenicali, suggested at Jean Alesi’s Canal + microphone, in an interview which will be broadcast on Sunday on the sidelines of the Grand Prix, and including a video clip was shared on social networks by the TV channel. “For us, France is a very important country, with history, with the passion for F1, immediately reassured the Italian. We had incredible Grands Prix at Paul Ricard until two years ago. But we have to find the right solution. We need to find, on the French side, an interest, for the country to understand that today, when you want to organize a Formula 1 Grand Prix, you need a significant investment which can be organized at the level central with the government.”
“In a marriage, you have to have at least 2 people who agree. » 👀
Can we hope for a return of the French Grand Prix?🇫🇷
Formula 1 President Stefano Domenicali responds 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/LMMZPNQ83s— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) April 5, 2024
F1 awaits a sign from the French government
Domenicali is certainly referring to the fact that the return of the French Grand Prix to the calendar from 2018 to 2022 had been made possible thanks to the majority support of the PACA region, then led by former motorcycle racer Christian Estrosi, and that by force things, the financial capacity of a region could not be sufficient given the scale taken by F1 and the investments required to keep a round on the calendar.
Last summer, Emmanuel Macron was favorable to the idea of a return of the French Grand Prix. “Be certain that I fully share your ambitionhe responded in particular to Christian Estrosi, after receiving a letter from the mayor of Nice. Indeed, you underline it, our country must be able, like the other major international sporting events it organizes each year, to reconnect with Formula 1, for the pleasure of all. It is an issue of attractiveness for our country, of the influence of our automobile industry and of innovation to support the decarbonization of this sector”
Between words and actions, the temporality is not always the same in politics, so F1 is clearly waiting for a gesture and to see a real desire from the government in order to truly resume discussions. “When we work on a global level, here (in Japan)there is the Prime Minister, there is the king, there are all the people who are really behind the F1 project, because F1 offers an opportunity to represent the country in the worldsupported by Stefano Domenicali. There is a business opportunity, there is an opportunity to welcome the people who come…”
In short, there are concrete economic and attractiveness benefits for the country. The ball is now in the court of Emmanuel Macron and the government of Gabriel Attal. Not sure that things will evolve at high speed in the coming weeks, with the executive being more focused on the Paris 2024 sporting issue, a few months before the start of the Olympic Games.
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