07/11/2022
NEWS STORY
F1 CEO, Stefano Domenicali insists that the lack of a title showdown this year will not hurt F1's finances.
Even if what followed was more of a French farce, as the 2021 Formula One World Championship headed into the final round, it was a plot straight out of Hollywood, what with title protagonists, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen level on points.
A year later, the events of that night are still widely discussed and disputed, but no matter what one believes there is no arguing the fact that it was one of the sport's biggest pay days.
A year later, the world championship heads to Abu Dhabi with precious little to play for, both titles having already been decided.
Yes, there is the ongoing battle between Alpine and McLaren for fourth, while Mercedes may yet leapfrog Ferrari, and let's not forget the four-way fight for sixth.
However, without that 2021-style showdown one would argue the season is all but done and dusted, which means viewing figures for the final two races will be impacted and thereby, one might assume, the sport's finances.
Not so, insists Stefano Domenicali.
Actually, we don't see any kind of risk at all," he said during a conference call with analysts following confirmation of the financial results of the third quarter.
"First of all, we have the last race with sold out tickets," he continued, "and the numbers are really good. Attention will be shipped, of course, to other fights for the sporting perspective. That's part of racing.
"And I would like to add, if I may, we are totally positive on the impact that the change in regulations brought this year. And we cannot comment on the fact that a team, but specifically in this case Red Bull, or Max Verstappen, did an incredible job. Maybe some other teams didn't take the right opportunities.
"But what we saw on the track is wheel-to-wheel racing. That's what we wanted. And I'm totally confident that next year the fight on the track will arrive up to end of the calendar. And as you'll see, the last races, on the sporting side there is a lot of attention.
"There is a fight for places that also for the team perspective is related to their financial position, and the financial reward if they achieve a position. So I think that there will be a lot of interest in Brazil and Abu Dhabi too, with no problem."
Of course, with the Italian having already made clear that the sport's powers that be are seeking all manner of ways in which to 'spice up' the action, including - but not limited to - more reliance on Safety Cars and the like, one can bet that F1, the FIA, their pals in Hollywood and Silicon Valley are already working flat-out on the 2023 script.