Carey: There's room for more F1 races

Formula 1 CEO Chase Carey believes that there is room on the calendar for more races going forward.

Since it took over the sport in 2017, Liberty Media has often spoken about its desire to add new races to the roster. It secured its first new event last year, confirmed that Vietnam would join the calendar in 2020, with the race being held around the streets of Hanoi.

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However, five races (Great Britain, Mexico, Italy, Spain and Germany) do not have contracts in place after their 2019 rounds. But Carey is not concerned about it, saying that he expects renewals to be signed before the end of the year.

“We had a number of renewals last year just like we have a number of renewals the year before,” he said. “There are different issues in each one.

“I think the most positive aspect of that is we have we’re increasingly encouraged by the breadth of interest of new parties who want to commit and that really is the dynamic that’s important for us for supply and demand.

"We value our races, [some] are long-term partners, some not quite as long. I think our first approach is if we can get to a place that works for both of us, is to renew races.”

Carey added the Liberty is prepared to drop races that do not offer enough for the sport, while it also aims to expand beyond the current 21-race format that is in place.

“We’re not necessarily always going to be able to get there but to make sure we’re getting fair value it’s important that we have alternatives in places that provide not just attractive finances but attractive races.

"An example being in Vietnam, we think it’s going to be an exciting new place to go those objective growing in Asia. And it’s a win-win for both of us a so it really ticks all the boxes.

“We have a races really around the world that we’d like to add, races including not just new markets but some traditional markets like western Europe.

"So I think it is engaging with partners, seeing if we can get to a place that works for us and try to judge that against the opportunities we have in other markets.

“That is a process we’re engaged in now with the renewals for 2020 which won’t be different than every year.

"We always have some three or four negotiations we have to go through and I think as we’ve gotten a few years under our belt, I think we increasingly feel pretty good about the trajectory of that and the ability to continue to have a healthy business there.

"And we are looking and we’ve talked about it I think there’s room to add a bit to the race calendar.”