Singapore Extends Formula One Partnership
The Singapore Grand Prix will remain part of Formula One’s race calendar for a further five years after a deal was announced that will see the government bear responsibility for 60% of the $122m (£75.37m) cost of staging the race.
The Singapore Grand Prix made its debut in 2008 as the sport’s first night-race, but the weekend’s event, won by Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel, was the last of its initial five-year deal.
There had been question marks over the future of the event ahead of Saturday’s announcement.
Singapore’s Second Minister for Trade and Industry, S. Iswaran said the race had attracted more than 150,000 international visitors over the last four years with an average annual tourism spend of S$140-150 million.
Iswaran told Reuters: ‘The Singapore government in particular has taken a very deliberate study of the costs and benefits of continuing with this race from a national perspective.’
‘Our view is that F1 has been good for Singapore. We had estimated $150 million a year to run the race and the government would share 60% of the approved costs. We have been able to manage it slightly below that and going forward we think there will be additional scope for savings.’
Ecclestone expressed his delight at the new deal, adding that the night-race concept could be copied by other races.
The F1 boss said: ‘All of us like being here. So we are all here for another five years. The trouble is they’ve started something that’s so popular worldwide that I’m sure other people are going to want to do this. Now, whether or not we are going to be happy with that I don’t know. We’re very happy with what we’ve got in Singapore, more than happy, and I’m very proud that they had the courage to do this in the first place.’
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel won Sunday’s race in the city after race leader Lewis Hamilton retired with a gearbox failure.
Hamilton’s McLaren teammate Jenson Button followed the german home in second, with Championship leader Fernando Alonso taking the final podium position.
Saturday’s announcement came one day after a provisional 20-race calendar for the 2013 F1 season highlighted Singapore, along with three other events, as having provisional status.
According to the provisional calendar issued to teams during the Singapore GP weekend, the 2013 campaign will begin in Australia on 17th March, finish in Brazil on 24th November.
The other events still holding a provisional status are the second US race in New Jersey and the German and Korean events.
New Jersey officials are yet to convince F1 officials of their readiness to hold a race, scheduled for 16th June, while the German and Korean events are enduring reported financial difficulties.
