BOLIDES RETURN?

Speed, strong emotions, excitement and innovation are the main features that make the Formula 1 competition a phenomenon of our time. Over the years, fierce competition has attracted huge audiences. The popularity of these competitions followed by 450 million people around the world continues to grow at an unprecedented rate. It’s one of the rare events when the gap between the 1st and 2nd places is tenths of a second.

The COVID-19 problem

Over the years, Formula 1 has made itself a rightful place in world sports due to its attractiveness and the money the athletes earn. Yet it turned out that the fastest sport in the world has not been immune to the coronavirus pandemic. Most of the competitions were postponed with relevant changes made to the agenda.

The world's leading sports organizations have already announced their competition schedule for the next year. The Formula 1 leadership presented the calendar for the 2021 season, which plans to start the race on March 21 in Melbourne and end it on December 5 in Abu Dhabi. A total of 23 stages are planned, but the holding of the April 25 races in Vietnam has not been confirmed yet.

The organizers said that although the competitions in Barcelona and São Paulo were included in the calendar in advance, additional agreement on the terms of the contract is required. The debut of the Arabian Grand Prix, which will take place on November 28, has been confirmed. The itinerary of the event still needs to be approved at a meeting of the FIA World Council, but this is a pure formality.

Races in Baku and the newcomers

Baku City Circuit reports that the races in Azerbaijan will take place on June 4-6 after the competitions in Monaco. Pilots and teams will then compete in Canada, Europe, North and South America and the Middle East. The season will end on December 5 in Abu Dhabi, and before that, the first Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will be held in Jeddah.

The Baku City Circuit management welcomes the announcement of the Formula 1 calendar for the next year and is looking forward to meeting with fans from all over the world in the capital of Azerbaijan.

Next year, Saudi Arabia will join the Formula 1 calendar with an urban track. The race will take place through the streets of Jeddah at night. However, from 2023, the competition will take place on the Kiddiah stationary track a week before the competition in Abu Dhabi.

Due to the pandemic, tournament costs are expected to decrease in the future. The leaders of the teams have decided to impose restrictions on pilots' salaries from 2023. The maximum amount will be $30 million per year. This is done to reduce competition costs and budget constraints. The decision may speed up negotiations between Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes on the conclusion of a new agreement. The British pilot currently earns $45.5 million.

According to official statistics, the growth in the number of tourists to Azerbaijan began precisely after the first Formula 1 competition in 2016. Thanks to the competition, Azerbaijan has become more recognizable and earned hundreds of millions of dollars. That’s why Baku City Circuit is interested in holding the Formula 1 competition in 2021. But this requires an improvement in the situation with the coronavirus around the world, the restoration of flights from leading airports, and a permit for the attendance of spectators.

Benefits for Azerbaijan

The Baku track, which has a half-billion audience in the world, has been included in the calendar of the Formula 1 World Championship for four years already. According to the agreement, the competitions in Baku will be held at least until 2023. And the dividends from the event, that is the commercial profit, Azerbaijan’s promotion, tourism development and social support, are already evident.

According to an independent study carried out by PwC, the Formula 1 competition in Baku in 2016 and 2017 brought the Azerbaijani economy $277.3 million. The amount indicated in the report covers direct and indirect income from the visitors of Baku before the competition. The most commercially profitable competition was the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Then the amount of income received from sponsors was 50% more than in the previous year.

In 2019, 85,000 spectators from 74 countries watched the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan for four days, including the fans from Russia, Great Britain, Austria, the Netherlands and Georgia. All tickets were sold out. 90 million people watched the races on TV. That's 10% more than the 2018 competition.

According to the voting on the official Twitter page of the championship, the Baku track took first place. The competition in Baku was also recognized as the best based on the results of polls conducted in various years by prestigious publications among the fans, media representatives and the Paddock Club. The Washington Times included Formula 1 among the top five reasons to visit Azerbaijan, and Forbes called Baku and Formula 1 a “perfect match”.

Note that the Baku track also remarkable by the level of complexity of the track and turns. Famous for accidents, it attracts like a magnet. The clash of famous pilots - Daniel Riccardo and Max Verstappé, the incident between Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari ) and other moments were widely discussed in the world media, mainly on social networks, and are still mentioned today.

So, the calendar is ready. The Azerbaijani fans are waiting for the return of high-speed bolides to Baku. But the time will tell whether the Grand Prix of Azerbaijan will take place or not.