Alpine’s Esteban Ocon has pledged to do all he can to save the French Grand Prix from disappearing from the Formula 1 schedule going forward.
The race at the Circuit Paul Ricard has been rumoured to be in danger of missing out on a spot on the sport’s calendar in the coming years.
F1 is currently seeing interest from new locations, with Miami, Saudi Arabia and Qatar all recently signing long-term deals.
In addition, the sport will also compete at Las Vegas in 2023.
F1’s Concorde Agreement outlines that a maximum of 24 races can be held during a campaign, with the 2022 season set to see 23 grands prix.
The Circuit Paul Ricard’s contract expires at the conclusion of the 2022 event, but Ocon, who is one of two French drivers on the grid, says he hopes to see it stay beyond the current year.
“Well, I’m, I’m very happy to discover new tracks but yes, to see the French Grand Prix at threat, definitely I will do everything I can, to be vocal on that, to try and keep it on the calendar,” he said.
“Of course, when I started Formula 1, the grand prix was not there. It was rumoured that it was going to come back, and it did.
“We’ve lived so many good moments with the French fans there, it’s extremely special when we go there every year.
“So, I mean, I don’t know, what’s the situation exactly but I’m not happy to hear that it’s under threat at the moment and I will do everything I can to keep it on the calendar.”
F1 returned to France in 2018 and held another race in 2019, before the 2020 edition was cancelled due to Covid-19.
This year’s race in France is scheduled to take place on July 24th.
France is a great place but “The Circuit Paul Ricard” is not a great circuit for f1. All the different configurations and it’s still pants. Plus all those blue lines make your head hurt on screen.
Sorry Esteban, but money is all that matters now.
Good luck trying to get liberty care about ANYTHING else.
Adding Miami was an outrage, adding Las Vegas is an obscenity, yet New York, Chicago, and Califiornia are likely to follow. This was my fear when Liberty took over, Americans have a very limited view of the world, they think that a competition in the USA between American teams can be classed as a world championship. Liberty will turn Formula One into an American championship. There should be a rule of one country, one race. There are more than enough countries capable of hosting and willing to host races. Those countries which have more than one suitable circuit should be told to rotate if they wish to use them all. It’s also wrong that we have Imola and Monza this year, now that the covid cancellations are over. Formula One is a World Championship, and the schedule should reflect that by sharing the races out to as many countries as possible.
As said its about the fees the promotors such as Silverstone or Paul Ricard have to find from private sponsorship and no Government support.
UK use to be able to complain that was EU law, but not now after BREXIT.