While much has been made and said in the media over the last year about new countries wanting to stage a Formula 1 race, there has also been talk about previous venues returning to the F1 fold too.
Recently there was speculation about Kyalami in South Africa but today it has emerged that Argentina now looks to be in pole position for a return when it was revealed that Fenix Entertainment is in talks with Liberty Media to stage a grand prix in Buenos Aires in 2019.
Arturo Rubinstein, president of Fenix Entertainment’s parent company, investment firm Blue Capital, confirmed he is in negotiations with Liberty and that Fenix’s plans have the backing of the Argentinean government too.
“We are negotiating with Liberty Media to become the promoter of the GP in Argentina,” Rubinstein told The Independent in London.
He confirmed the grand prix would be run at Autódromo Juan y Oscar Gálvez in Buenos Aires, a circuit that hosted its last F1 race in 1998, and that the city was up to contribute $30m towards redevelopment work to bring the Autódromo up to the standard required by the FIA which should take six months to complete.
“The government of the city of Buenos Aires has committed to fund the required works in order to get a further upgrade of the circuit according to F1 and FIA’s standards. The works to repair and improve the circuit will start as soon as we sign the agreement [with Liberty] to hold the race
“Our preference is to have the race held in 2019, at the beginning of the calendar, back to back with Australia. It is worth noting that there are transpolar flights. Also, historically, the F1 races in Argentina were held at the beginning of the calendar. Another alternative is to have it in November, before or after Brazil.
“We have been discussing the project with both the national and the city of Buenos Aires governments. The current President of Argentina, Mauricio Macri, has a sport background, having been president of [leading football club] Boca Juniors for 10 years during the most successful period in its history. It should be borne in mind that he is the former Buenos Aires city mayor and, as such, we have actually been talking with him about this project since the start in late 2013.”
