Formula 1’s ongoing move away from its traditional home of Europe and into new markets has an unexpected supporter, triple world champion Jackie Stewart. The Scottish driver, who coined the nickname “The Green Hell” for Germany’s legendary Nordschleife (the old 14-mile track layout of the Nürburgring) told SBD Global it is important for the sport to grow beyond one region of the world. Stewart, who competed in F1 from ’65-73, does not like to see traditional European race venues such as Monza, whose future as host of the Italian Grand Prix remains in doubt after this season, lose their spots on the schedule. But he is also aware that technological advances, especially in the areas of communication, travel and media, have made it easier for F1 to enter new markets. “People are doing business in an entirely different fashion today than they were before,” he said. “I think the world is changing and I think there are countries now that nobody has ever heard of but since they’ve got Formula 1 people want to go to those countries.” Destinations such as Singapore, Malaysia and Abu Dhabi have indeed received a boost in tourism and global exposure since F1 added them to the list. But Stewart also acknowledged that the series, which has pushed into several new markets since the late ‘90s, made “some errors” along the way. South Korea, India and Turkey, for example, all spent millions on new racing facilities only to be squeezed out by F1’s tough economics. Despite those failures, Stewart believes F1 has never been more popular than it is now. “It’s been good for the sport,” he said. ”It’s a bigger thing with more appeal than it has ever had before. Some countries that can’t afford to have [a grand prix] won’t have it. There are other countries who would be desperate to have it.”
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Jackie Stewart
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JOINING THE CIRCUIT: A country that falls into that category will make its debut on the F1 calendar this weekend. Azerbaijan will host the European F1 Grand Prix this Sunday on a temporary street in the capital of Baku. More than 100 million people will see the coverage of Sunday’s race, Baku City Circuit Exec Dir Arif Rahimov said. Organizers hope the media exposure will translate into a boost for tourism. Rahimov said that of the more than 30,000 tickets that have been sold for the inaugural race weekend, 30% have been purchased by foreigners. Space constraints make it difficult to expand capacity going forward, but organizers are already looking to increase capacity by 5-10% for ’17. Azerbaijan signed a 10-year deal with the company of F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone and is thought to pay an annual hosting fee of $50M. While not confirming any numbers, Rahimov told SBD Global that he and his team expect to cover the race's operational costs within the next three-to-four years, but the government will continue to subsidize the event. "Probably about 90 or 100 percent of the F1 events are somehow subsidized by the governments," he added. "It's not straightforward to be profitable in Formula 1. There is so much more that it brings to the country than direct profits to the promoter. They bring tourism. They give the country exposure. So there is a lot of indirect income that a country gets by hosting an F1 race. That's why the government subsidizes the promoters." Azerbaijan has been repeatedly accused of human-rights violations and as a result F1 received some flak for staging a race in the former Soviet nation. Rahimov, however, said those criticisms have had no real impact on the event itself. “I don’t think it has really damaged our reputation that much,” he said. “I doubt this has been any problem for us. Some people are expressing their opinions and they may differ from reality.”
Come back to Monday's SBD Global for a Q&A with Stewart on a wide range of issues, including safety, commercial appeal and the sport's changing demographics.
