According to a latest declaration coming from Richard Cregan – new deputy for Yas Marina Circuit boss Philippe Gurdjia – if the venue can host racing competitions 24 hours a day, there would be no reason not to host a Formula One night grand prix as well.
“The fact that we can run the track 24 hours a day leaves us in a very good position to run the circuit at night time. There are a lot of possibilities,” admitted Cregan (formerly team manager of Toyota F1), according to Germany's Deutsche Presse-Agentur.
The news comes only weeks after Gurdjia repeatedly insisted that Abu Dhabi is not yet ready to host an artificially lit race. However, no official statement from the circuit officials has been issued on the matter. According to the current F1 schedule, the Arab venue is on track for hosting the last race of the season on daylight, on November 1st.
The Singapore Grand Prix is currently the only race in the F1 calendar to be hosted at night, as debuted in 2008. The need for night races outside Europe, in Ecclestone's view, is linked with the possibility of European fans (making for the majority of F1 fans worldwide) to watch the races in the afternoon and not early in the morning.
Rumor has it that this was the main reason why the Australian Grand Prix officials decided to move this year's race (among with the qualifying and practice sessions) an hour later than initially scheduled.
Google News