The 2023 Formula 1 new calendar is set to include 23 races, two more than the previous season–making it the longest schedule in the 74-year history of the sport. The sport’s governing body, the FIA, has approved a maximum of 26 races for the season but Formula 1 has opted to schedule 23. Qatar will return, while Las Vegas will debut as the season’s final round for a Saturday night race. Red Bull Racing, Ferrari, Mercedes and the rest of the pack will take to the track in Bahrain on March 5, and the season will conclude in Abu Dhabi on November 26, with a record-breaking 23 races scheduled. Have views on an issue or a news topic you care about? Send your letter to voices with your full name, address and phone number.The 2023 F1 calendar, which has been given the go-ahead by the World Motor Sport Council – WMSC, was announced by Formula 1 on September 20th, 2022. It is thus time for the curtains to fall permanently on the Singapore F1 after the present contract ends next year. However, these viewers have seen the Singapore skyline for the last 12 years and by now, the incremental benefit of more exposure to the same group is marginal. With reduced travel expected for the next few years and the need to draw down on Singapore's reserves during this period, it is time to be prudent with our resources and this is a luxury on which we should not be spending.īalanced against the above factors is the publicity generated, with 400 million international people viewing the race. The Covid-19 pandemic changes the funding equation. Of the annual average of 250,000 spectators reported to attend the three-night event here, only 60 per cent are from Singapore. Furthermore, high ticket prices put viewing the race out of reach for many Singaporeans, who have to contend instead with traffic disruptions and inconvenience caused by it.ģ. The event does not cater to the average Singaporean. In the earlier years, it was an annual S$150 million in organising costs.Ģ. If one assumes a generous 30 per cent operating margin, this gives around S$36 million operating profits, some proportion of which will accrue to international hotel chain franchises. To generate these receipts, the Singapore Government subsidises 60 per cent of the reported S$135 million a year in cost to host the night race - or a subsidy of around $80 million a year - making this a deeply loss-making and subsidised tourist endeavour.
It is a huge economic drain for taxpayers. The F1 generates an estimated S$120 million in annual tourism receipts.
I refer to the article " Organisers cancel this year’s Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix in light of Covid-19 pandemic" (June 12) and suggest that we do not renew the contract for the race when it expires in 2021 because of the following three reasons.ġ.
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