Sergio Perez feels that having new venues in F1 is exciting for the sport’s growth, but calls for the organizers to preserve it’s history.
F1 as a sport has been growing tremendously over the last few years. This has led to the organizers looking for newer venues where they could race in, to increase their audience.
Over the last few years, we have seen races in new venues like Saudi Arabia and Qatar. In 2022, Miami is also set to host it’s first ever F1 race. On top of that, Las Vegas recently signed a deal with the sport, that will see them host races in the famous strip, 2023 onwards.
🚨 TRACK PAINTING HAS BEGUN AT THE @F1 @cryptocom MIAMI GRAND PRIX 🚨 pic.twitter.com/oepjkxhA11
— F1 Miami Grand Prix (@f1miami) April 13, 2022
With Miami and Austin already confirmed, Vegas will become the third American race in the calendar next season. While the addition of new races is exciting for the sport and it’s growth, Perez feels that these venues lack character.
There have been talks of replacing some of the traditional F1 venues in recent months. This includes the likes of Spa and Monza, but Perez hopes that these tracks are never replaced, as they are a part of F1 history.
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The new tracks need to have some character, says Sergio Perez
Sergio Perez went on to talk about the involvement of these new tracks. Involvement of F1 in countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been scrutinized because of their poor track record when it comes to human rights.
There are some tracks which aren’t particularly historic, but the fans yearn for their return. This includes the Sepang Circuit in Malaysia and the Kalyani circuit in South Africa. Perez feels that F1 should consider adding these races to their calendar.
“I think, first of all, it’s great that Formula 1 is growing so much in another continent,” the Red Bull driver said.
BREAKING: F1 to host night race in Las Vegas from 2023!#F1 @Vegas pic.twitter.com/jtXbzKioV4
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 31, 2022
“So it’s a great opportunity for Formula 1, for the sport, I think we are all going to benefit from it. So it’s fantastic. But at the same time it would be good to keep the history within the sport, and we need those historic tracks to always be with us.”
“And we have to make sure that when we go to new venues, to really have some character on the tracks, you know. I felt like some of the new tracks kind of lack a bit of character. So that will be very important.”
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