Catalunya Government Cannot Guarantee F1 Race

After Australia, another highly-appreciated Formula 1 Grand Prix is on the verge of losing its place in the series' calendar. According to a recent report in Spain, Catalonian officials can only guarantee the hosting of the 2011 and 2012 Spanish Grands Prix at Circuit de Catalunya, after which economic factors will be evaluated to see if the race will go on until the end of its current F1 deal, 2016.

The current fee for the Spanish Grand Prix in Catalunya is EUR13 million, but that sum is believed will double by the 2016 date. Under the circumstances, hosting the race that welcomes the F1 field in Europe each year will probably not look very comfortable for the local government, and Artur Mas, the new president of the local Catalonian government, reckoned just that in a recent interview with El Pais newspaper.

“The continuity of the Formula One race at this circuit is guaranteed this year and probably also for the next,” he said. “I hope it can be sustained for the future, but that will depend on the evolution of the economic situation and the results obtained in the next two years.”

“The situation is what it is; I'm not here to fool anybody. I know the value of hosting an F1 race and motor racing is a sector that drives the economy. I will do my best, but we cannot hide from the truth. We need to reduce the budgets,” he added, giving a clear suggestion that F1 should lower its fees for the Spanish Grand Prix from 2012 onwards.

Once more however, Mas emphasized the importance of a good economic climate for the race to go on as planned, until 2016.

“We are in a time of severe budgetary constraints and it's going to affect everything a little bit. We need to move through these two difficult years and, if we recover, the contract we have for a few more years we will see in a bit of a better light,” he added in a recent interview with the EFE news agency.