Not too long ago, reports emerged suggesting that Formula One is seriously considering returning to Las Vegas with a new street circuit. On the back of these rumours, Ferrari Formula 1 boss Marco Mattiacci has announced that he would like to see three American races on the F1 calendar.
While recently speaking with ESPN, Mattiacci revealed that adding two further U.S. races to the sport will help to raise additional revenue.
“I want an extra race in the United States. I want three races in the United States. That’s my proposal, because the American market is fundamental to generate revenues, to attract sponsors, so that’s my proposal. When you have more revenues definitely you can talk about having more teams on board.”
Mattiacci continued by saying, “We need competitive teams. I’m not here to say small, middle; we need competitive teams with a solid business background, a solid financial background. At the same time as a strong believer of Formula One I think the focus is how to increase revenues, how to make the cake bigger. We are here in the United States where we see that Formula One is getting traction. My focus as a company where 30% of the sales are United States I want to make sure we get more and more successful in the United States.”
Interestingly, the United States has actually hosted three F1 races in a single season in the past. It was in 1982 when the Long Beach, Las Vegas and Detroit Grands Prix were held.
Owner and team principal of Force India supported Mattiacci’s proposal and said, “I mean, if we can have as many races [as we do] in the geographical region of Europe then one or maybe even two races in the United States would hardly be enough. But more significantly given the overall financial situation of Formula One, I mean a market as huge as the United States can help revenues on one side and help those teams that need more and more sponsorships on the other hand.”
[Via ESPN]
