A great sigh of relief must have gone through the minds and premises of the Automobile Club of Monaco last Thursday, at the signing of the extension of the contact which links the Monaco Grand Prix to Formula 1. The Monaco GP, a jewel of the discipline, managed to secure its place in the calendar until 2031, with the concession of a one-week delay in the organization of the event (beginning of June instead of end of May).
“Faced with the bulldozers, the bicycle was not crushed”
This long-term contract, almost unhoped for just a few months ago, ensures the Monaco GP has a stable position and time for reflection in order to make changes to promote the spectacle on track, a crucial and missing element in recent years. For Michel Boeri, the president of the Automobile Club of Monaco, the extension of the Monaco Grand Prix – in the face of fierce competition from other more exotic and more attractive destinations – could be an exception among European rounds, of which he predicts a pretty dark future.
“Faced with the bulldozers, the bicycle that I have [représenté] hasn't been crushed, that's already not bad, he declared to Monaco Info. Compared to the other European Grands Prix we have some small advantages, but above all, there is no alternation. We will be there every year. Not only will many European Grand Prixs disappear, but those that remain will alternate. I believe that with the demand that F1 has today, there will only be two or three Grand Prix left in Europe, with interest shifting to China and other continents. »
The question of alternation between Grands Prix recently came back to the table thanks (or because) of Stefano Domenicali. During a conference with Liberty Media investors, the president of Formula 1 raised the idea of rotations between several European Grands Prix, in order to reduce organizational costs and allow new destinations to host the discipline . Several candidates are knocking on the door of F1 (Saudi Arabia in Qiddiya, Thailand, Rwanda, South Africa, etc.) but the maximum number of Grand Prix authorized according to the Concorde Agreements is 25 races, while the 2024 calendar already has 24 rounds .
Six-month negotiations to extend the Monaco GP
The Monaco GP therefore escaped an alternation which would have seemed very unnatural for such an emblematic event on the calendar. Moreover, despite a long extension, Michel Boeri recognizes that the negotiations were not easy with the authorities of Formula 1 and in particular its manager, Stefano Domenicali.
“It's an 'I love you, me neither.' Negotiations lasted at least six months. The problem was that as soon as we had a verbal agreement, we had to finalize it with a 60-70 page contract, drawn up by American lawyers, and there was no longer a fly flying, we had to be careful, explained the president of the ACM. It was a legal fight that went beyond the small clashes we had with Stefano Domenicali, who defended interests that were not mine. All that is in the past, it has been swept away: we must now look to the future and our successors will have plenty of time to adapt and get up to speed. »
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