infrastructure, smart cities etc) as a clever message. They have done well to survive Year 1 but I think what will be interesting is to look at how the series develops in Years 2 to 5 and how relevant and how quickly Formula E teams can keep up with the EV technology. If there becomes a disconnect between the Automotive industry and Formula E (i.e. Road EV technology advances quicker than in the electric series), then it changes the model. It’s an interesting space to watch but I’ll repeat that what Agag has done is very admirable and clever.
PA: With regards to people complaining about Grand Prix tracks, even people in Monza complain about that GP especially now that it is under threat of cancellation. Grand Prixs have to create some buzz around it; you can’t just monetise from the mere GP event. The key question is whether we have new grand prix at the expense of historical races. In my opinion, there must be a good balance of historical/iconic and new tracks. As long as the historic tracks don’t disappear or aren’t substituted in place of other venue but recently F1 has lost a bit of this regional balance. The main issue with F1 comes back to exclusivity. F1 has become so exclusive that people feel cut off from the sport so anything that brings the sport to fans, will generally help the sport become more popular. So FormulaE is going about it the right way, bringing the races to the people and engaging with fans, especially young fans – far from the world of motorheads!
PC: We’ve discussed this in a previous panel event - these venues have to be viable and economically sustainable. We have seen some changes recently to the sport: to smaller race tracks, smaller infrastructures, lower costs with probably more efficient financial structures and are now better placed to host major events. We all forget that most race tracks are covered by government support, one of them being Silverstone which is certainly not running a positive balance. Most of the big race tracks, except maybe Bahrain, Abu Dhabi which are promotional exercises from rich countries, are continually trying to cover their debt. You mentioned Circuit of Wales and the construction of new street tracks. It certainly avoids the cost of big infrastructure all year long and also attract the city crowd which otherwise would have not travelled away from the city to see a motor-racing event.
BS: In terms of Baku, it is possible that Bernie is chasing a now outdated business model. He doesn't recognise the younger fans in Europe and I do agree that F1 needs
to become less Euro-centric. He is actively pursuing all these foreign markets e.g. Azerbaijan and we know this is strategic in terms of the oil but I think that he is missing a big opportunity here to re-think his business strategy. Recessions are good times to rethink how you want to go forward. I haven't found much information in terms of getting a feel for the Motorsports following so it would seem that there aren’t many opportunities to monetize the track.
RZ: To me, the three tracks listed make different types of financial sense and carry different types of public opposition which is really interesting. To me, that is what the other tracks are trying to get done e.g. at the Circuit of Wales, but that couldn't possibly explain the choice of Baku. Battersea is a different thing all together; someone else said this before, people love complaining. What is interesting in the UK is how councils work and Planning Permissions etc which is something I'm learning. It is quite different from how things work in the US - they have an open meeting but then the decision has nothing to do with the public have to say necessarily.
CN: The ongoing thing with circuits is that they have to meet certain criteria; they have to be exciting for fans, they have to be sustainable asset, they have to get investment to get correct development. The tracks listed are all different, but the
Formula E one is a great model because it
just shuts down a City Centre for one day. To have London, Paris, Berlin and Moscow all involved in it, that is quite a feat. To me, Baku will probably end up being like Turkey or Valencia. Unless you get serious backing, like Ben has been was saying, to turn it into a money-making asset, you will just see money sunk into something and it disappears like Korea.
Q4: Abt FormulaE team Season 2 livery contains VW logo which they insist is a financial partner. Given the recent emissions scandal, what is advisable?
DR: The Abt-VW situation is a tough question to answer. They have already signed a contract so there's a VW logo on the car. I think it would be a good thing for teams in the future to look at some break-clauses in their contracts in terms of violations (such as the diesel scandal at VW and PR-fallout), but as for the Formula E team, I don't think it will have an impact.
BS: In VW's response to the scandal, they intimated that they would be phasing out diesel cars and doing more in electric cars, so this might actually be a good time for both parties that they have a logo on an electric racing car. It could help them re-
direct their brand, going in a new direction with eco-cars to rebuild their customer base's faith in the company. They might need to run a bit of damage control with other sponsors in terms of sharing space on the car with other brands. I know it's like a different in NASCAR where the sponsors have a say in who else is on the car; they might need to smooth some ruffled feathers as far as the other sponsors are concerned.