Liberty Media Corp., owner of the Formula One racing company, is asking the Principality of Monaco for additional funding as part of advanced talks for a new contract to extend the historic auto race beyond 2025.
Monaco pays about $20 million a year to host the event, the lowest amount on the 24-race calendar, and Liberty Media officials are seeking an increase, according to people familiar with the discussions. The parties agreed to the current three-year contract in September 2022. This year, the Action begins on May 24th.
Like all major tourist attractions, the Monaco Grand Prix brings a major economic boost to the region, filling hotel rooms with spenders big and small. According to some, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, two other countries that host the race, spend more than $50 million a year Estimates. The fees provide Formula 1 with funds that it uses to pay out prize money at the end of each season.
A spokesman for Formula 1 did not want to comment on the current talks, but said the company was not considering withdrawing from Monaco. The Monaco Automobile Club, which organizes the race, did not respond to a request for comment.
Under CEO Greg Maffei, Liberty Media has increased annual Formula 1 revenue by more than 50% since 2019 to $3.22 billion last year. The company is focused on expanding Formula 1 to countries outside Europe, where the sport originated. There are currently three races taking place in the US – in Miami, Austin and Las Vegas – and there are persistent rumors of a race in another US city.
In 2022, New York City Mayor Eric Adams offered Randall’s Island as a potential venue, but Formula 1 boss Stefano Domenicali disagreed about the viability of that location, a small island with ball fields designed for the expected over Such an event would be difficult to access for 300,000 fans.
The Prime Minister of Thailand recently met with F1 officials to discuss a race in Bangkok.
The glamorous Monaco Grand Prix, held on the sun-drenched streets of Monte Carlo, is considered a must-see motorsport event. Monaco organizers have been unwilling to change their business model too much because they believe the history and prestige of their nearly 100-year-old circuit is more important than financial considerations, one person said. Many of the drivers live in Monaco.
But Formula One fans and prominent racing drivers such as Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton have criticized the two-mile track as depressingly dull, as the size of modern racing cars prohibits them from making the daring passes and three-man races on modern racetracks.
“Thank God that’s over, that was the most boring race I’ve ever taken part in,” said seven-time world champion Hamilton after finishing third there in 2022.
The principality has been forced to change in the past. Two years ago, it gave up the right to produce its own television coverage of the race in exchange for a new contract.
“Monaco embodies what F1 is,” said Vincenzo Landino, an F1 analyst and consultant who publishes the Qualifier, a newsletter about the sport. “If you take that away, I think you have a brand crisis.”