The Serve

If Formula One wants night racing, make Formula One pay for it

Formula One’s boss has been quite effusive in his call for Melbourne to introduce racing under lights. At the start of the week, the idea was nothing more than a grandiose pipe dream, sexing up the headlines. By race day, Bernie Ecclestone was speaking about it almost in past tense, as if it’s already been locked in. They move fast in this game. One small point: In all of Ecclestone’s assertiveness, he never once mentioned anything about paying for it.

Funny that.  

The very idea of putting Albert Park under lights simply makes sense. The sport’s money is in Europe, where a midday timeslot is obviously far more commercial than the middle of the night. Prime time in Asia and Australia also has its attractions. Reports that Melbourne is a $35 million loss for the state should be ringing alarm bells, particularly as Albert Park has the perception of being the slickest run event on the circuit. Merely delivering the product isn’t enough. The Sydney Olympics was proof of that. The greatest games ever? The greatest flop in the rest of the world. The notion of Melbourne pioneering night racing would also pique the interests of the eternally ambitious Ron Walker and the State Government.

Aah yes, the Victorian Government. That benevolent association that’s been in the back pocket of Formula One ever since they convinced the suits in Paris that Adelaide really wasn’t all that alive. They have poured in a fortune, ceding to every whim of the governing body. Victoria has done everything asked of it and then some. When push comes to shove, they’ll almost certainly be expected to come up with lighting. Putting up lights at an F1 race is not like lighting up the Telstra Dome. Think of your local golf course. Think of lighting up every hole. Every tee, every fairway, every bunker, every green. A lot of lights, isn’t it? Now double it. Nascar is the benchmark of night time motor racing, yet their races are run on the constricted spaces of an oval track. A street circuit is a nightmare, a logistical maze. It will cost someone a bomb. Apparently a $10 million bomb. Formula One will no doubt use their considerable weight to lean on the government. The presence of prospective license winners from Asia this weekend a prime example. F1 doesn’t make over a billon dollars a year for nothing.

Is Victoria so desperate to maintain its self-pertained image to be the sporting capital of the country, or the world, or whatever, that it will ply itself further into debt for a company that has money coming out of its chimneys? F1 doesn’t really want to lose Melbourne. It’s a first world country which provides plenty of crowds, a stress-free week for all involved and a broadcast that is unparalleled. Go and ahead and put in lights, just make F1 pay for it.