Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has urged Formula 1 to look at South Korea for a potential race host, believing it represents a “blank spot” in East Asia for the calendar.
In recent years, the number of Grand Prix has risen to 24, with the series travelling across the globe within the season.
F1 has subsequently tried to organise the calendar geographically to aid sustainability.
Recently, Canada has partnered with Miami. The Monaco Grand Prix is being moved to a later date in the season.
Equally, Japan has shifted to the opening stages of the season rather than its original spot in the post-summer break slot.
Yet, the growing Calendar hasn’t stopped F1 from wanting to introduce new races in a variety of locations being called for.
Specifically, Asia and Africa have been noted as regions that lack the number of races proportionate to their populations.
F1 currently has three races in the Asia region, none in Africa. Yet there are six in the Americas and four in the Middle East.
Wolff has been open about how he believes there’s an ‘untapped market’ in the fan base in South Korea that F1 should capitalise on.
“It has been a little bit of an untapped market for a while now,” Wolff told Bloomberg.
“Considering that Formula 1 has grown very strong over the last few years. Particularly in the younger target group.
“You know, our strongest growing demographic is young females from 15 to 24. They are very active on social media.
“South Korea is an extremely social-media-connected country. So it would be great if we could come back and show how Formula One has changed over the last 10 years.”
No plans for a future in South Korea
F1 has competed in Korea before, between 2010 and 2013.
Hosted at the Yeognam Circuit, the race ran for four years but was cancelled for 2014 after contract disputes between the organisers and FOM.
F1 has looked elsewhere in East Asia, racing in Malaysia and looking briefly at a Vietnamese Grand Prix. However, currently, neither is on the calendar.
Stefano Domenicali, the F1 CEO, has said 24 races is the limit that F1 would be willing to have in a season.
However, they have begun to introduce rotating races. Barcelona and Belgium are set to become the first races to be rotated.
“His [Domenicali] aim is always to balance it well,” Wolff added.
“There’s obviously commercial factors, but also long-term planning. I believe that we have a little bit of a blank spot in [East] Asia.”
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