Late hour races will pull bigger audiences: Luca di Montezemolo
Whatever Max Mosley says about him or no matter how much the other team bosses in Formula One criticise him, nothing can stop Luca di Montezemolo from coming up with a new idea every other day. This time the Ferrari president believes that the sport is playing
down a great trick of attracting bigger audiences and that is ‘appropriate race timing’.
The Italian thinks that Grands Prix must take place at late hours in the afternoon, which will make more people come to watch the cars battling with each other on the track. He added that the races that take place during the mid of the season especially
in July and August must not begin before evening as in the afternoons people are more interested in relaxing than coming to the tracks.
All the races, around the year are held only on Sundays and with the exception of only two, all are held in the afternoon around 2 o’clock. Montezemolo reckons that the current race time is an odd one to pull more people towards the race arenas. While talking
to the media earlier today, he stated,
"I don't think it's good that in July or August the races begin at 2 o'clock when most people are lying on the beach. Football games don't get started until 5 o'clock or later."
Looking at the Formula One calendar, especially the 2009 and 2010 season, one can very comfortably say that the most exciting of all the races were the Singapore Grand Prix and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. This somehow justifies the latest of the Montezemolo’s
proposals.
The Singapore round is the only race of the season that takes place at night in Formula One calendar. The dainty F1 cars were seen ramping under the flood lights for the very first time in 2009 when the Marina Bay Track of Singapore held its debut race.
Only in two years time it has gained the reputation of the most festive and celebrated race weekend of the calendar.
On the other hand, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, held at the technologically most advanced circuits of the world, the Yas Marina Track, kicks off a little before the sunset. The Formula One gladiators have fought the last rounds of 2009 and 2010 with the picturesque
sunset of Arabia behind them, giving a perfect ending to the long racing season.
Keeping these two races in mind, one can hope that FIA will pay heed to the new suggestion of Montezemolo, although the idea of running a third car by the Formula One teams has already been dismissed by the authorities.
Tags: