Formula 1 CEO Chase Carey has denied Liberty Media is putting traditional races at risk of leaving the calendar in favour of new events like Vietnam.
This year, Britain, Germany and Italy, Spain and Mexico are all in the final year of their current contracts with Silverstone and Monza particularly unhappy about the fees being requested by the commercial rights holder.
“Certainly we are not pursuing new venues at the expense of existing [races],” Carey told ESPN. “The reality is we’ve renewed [race contracts], since we took control about two years ago, and the only race we haven’t renewed is Malaysia, which was a mutual decision, so that’s the reality.”
However: “That being said, we want long-term partnerships and I think it’s important to provide freshness and new energy to it [the calendar],” he continued.
“Vietnam is a new race and is going to be a great race, so I think it’s exciting for the fans and the reception we have had around the world is excitement for it.
“We want to be in some markets we are not in where there are some opportunities for it, and there are some that we are in but we are not there in the way we think we can be in. So in the U.S., we are clearly in Texas but we think there is an opportunity to be bigger there.
“We certainly value our existing partners and most of those relationships are long term and I expect most of them to continue, but I think it is important that where there is an opportunity to add something special, we can add a new race.”
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While the F1 chief wouldn’t divulge into individual details of the races currently negotiating new deals, he did offer reassurances about the British Grand Prix, the birthplace of the sport.
“Silverstone is a valuable race,” Carey told Sky Sports. “We appreciate what Silverstone has meant to fans. We are engaged with them to see where we can get to.
“This sport historically seemed to like to talk in public before they talked in private. We’re trying to do the reverse, talk in private and then address the public with what we’ve done.
“We’re going to continue doing with what we think is the right thing, but we are engaged with Silverstone.”