75th Anniversary of Formula 1

Question

11:17:00

Asked by

To ask His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to help mark the 75th anniversary of Formula 1 in 2025.

Formula 1’s 75th birthday is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the sport’s long history in the UK. Formula 1 is a British success story, with seven out of 10 teams based here, and we look forward to continuing our long and prosperous relationship with them. While I am here, I would like to congratulate Max Verstappen on his fourth consecutive world championship and McLaren on its first constructors’ championship since 1998.

My Lords, Formula 1 is indeed a great British success story. British drivers have won the world championship more than drivers from any other nation. As the Minister says, we are home to seven of the 10 Formula 1 teams. It is not just homegrown talent such as McLaren, which I too congratulate on its title; we also attract teams from around the world such as Mercedes, Alpine and, soon, Cadillac. Silverstone hosted the very first round of the drivers’ world championship in May 1950 and will remain home to the British Grand Prix for at least the next decade. As the number of people from all backgrounds enjoying the sport continues to grow, will the Government work with that famous circuit to make sure that it is more accessible by public transport, so that the UK’s largest sporting event can be reached by people, hopefully to entertain them but also inspire them into careers on and off the track?

I fully echo the noble Lord’s comments on Formula 1 as a British success story and completely agree with him about the accessibility of Silverstone. When I did a track day at Silverstone, the only option was to drive—on and off the track, obviously. In terms of next steps, the Government are always pleased to see sports venues explore new ways of improving transport access and we look forward to Silverstone and others developing such plans. If the noble Lord would like me to continue to have conversations with the Department for Transport, I will be more than happy to facilitate.

My Lords, if the Minister has any intentions of recognising the 75th anniversary, is she aware that I would be very glad to help? I suppose I am almost the only Member of your Lordships’ House who was present at the Grand Prix of Europe in May 1950, which was won by Giuseppe Farina in an Alfa Romeo 158.

My Lords, I was born in 1979, so that would be a challenge. I thank and celebrate the noble Lord for his work with grands prix and for ensuring, with his work then, that grands prix have been such an incredible success story, both here and internationally. I am more than happy to work with the noble Lord and I will go back to the department and ensure that he is involved in the conversations the department has about celebrating the grands prix going forward.

My Lords, the F1 generates hundreds of millions of pounds for the British economy and turns over £2 billion a year. It is a fantastic success. Can I ask the Minister to consider two things? First, could she press for the Silverstone Grand Prix in 2025 to be made free to air to maximise the British public’s chance to watch that grand prix live and not have to pay? Secondly, could she consider supporting the Racing Steps Foundation to bring young aspiring boys and girls into the motor industry? It receives no funding whatever at the moment. Would she consider a 75-year anniversary celebration scholarship to bring more boys and girls into the industry and—you never know—perhaps create another world champion?

My Lords, I would be more than happy to meet the Racing Steps Foundation charity to discuss options or arrange for the Minister for Sport to meet them. In terms of celebrating the role of Silverstone, the grand prix and the issue of free-to-air racing, I fell in love with grand prix racing because it was free to air. There are conversations to be had about making sure that significant moments in British sport can be accessed. However, obviously there is currently a commercial agreement in which Channel 4 gets the highlights—which I, like others, watched of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the weekend.

Would the Minister agree that, looking at the success of Formula 1, it has been achieved mainly by not having a government regulator? Does that draw lessons for the Government on other sports?

My Lords, all Members of your Lordships’ House will appreciate that Formula 1 is highly regulated on health and safety and wider issues. We will explore appropriate governance arrangements for every sport as and where appropriate.

My Lords, will the Minister talk to all the major sporting venues? There are many worldwide sporting events that take place in the United Kingdom. I have in mind the likes of Wimbledon, sports at Wembley and the like. Major sporting events face a very specific problem in terms of organisations moving in and out of this country—whether that be on tax or mobility or the like. Therefore, it would be appropriate to bring sporting venues and events together to ensure that there is a co-ordinated government policy.

The Minister for Sport has regular conversations with all relevant stadia. With regards to Formula 1, those will start for next year’s celebrations in January. If the noble Lord has specific concerns, he should feel free to raise them with me and I will make sure the department addresses them.

My Lords, nine years ago I was in Mexico at the same time as the grand prix there, sharing a hotel with the Ferrari back-office team. I got stranded at the hotel because the disability taxi failed to turn up. After 36 hours without sleep, three of the team worked with me to solve the problem and help me rebook my flight. I have a picture in front of their Ferrari. My next car is definitely going to be a Ferrari. Does the Minister agree that we need to recognise the support of the back-office teams, who are often invisible? In this particular circumstance, it was unusual for a grand prix team to help somebody in a wheelchair, and they were brilliant.

I thank the noble Baroness for sharing her story and put on record our thanks to Ferrari for making sure that she did not get stranded. I think we can see that our collective teams want to help as many people as possible, and it was great they were able to do so in that instance.

My Lords, should we not also be celebrating the extraordinary global success of the often-denigrated Milton Keynes? Milton Keynes is the global engineering and technological hub of Formula 1.

I think we celebrate everyone involved with the development of Formula 1. Across “Motorsport Valley”, we have 25,000 highly skilled engineers working to support it, which is why Formula 1 is so effective. We have 45,000 people working in the pipeline for Formula 1 and wider motorsport in the UK. This is to celebrate all parts of the UK and their contribution. As someone who goes past Milton Keynes on the train every week, I think we should always celebrate Milton Keynes.

My Lords, we know that petrolheads find motor racing tremendous, but we also know that motor racing has been connected closely to innovation in the industry. Are there any plans for experimenting with racing with cars that might be powered by electricity or hydrogen in the future?

The noble Lord raises a very good point. One of the roles of Formula 1 has been as a driver for cultural change, whether in health and safety, as it has developed safer cars, or in making things that were seen to be unacceptable acceptable in terms of technology and going to the cutting edge. In 2026 we will see a hybrid car for Formula 1, with a new sustainable fuel source. I look forward to seeing how that develops for the commercial market.

My Lords, would the Minister agree that, when we talk about innovation, we should also support Formula E? It is a fully battery-raced series, which is innovation at the top level. Will the Government do more to promote Formula E and inspire young people to get involved? Before I sit down, I offer my services in celebrating 75 years of Formula 1; I am a massive McLaren fan.

I think we are all proving to have our own teams today. Personally, I started with Damon Hill. Formula E is a significant development. We have seen the wider Formula 1 pipeline through Formula E and the also very important F1 Academy programme to encourage women to come through. There is also Mission 44 to encourage more diversity and engagement from every part of society. How Formula 1 can be a case for developing wider participation and engagement in a sustainable way needs to be celebrated. The Minister for Sport is meeting with the industry in January to talk about how we can frame that through the celebration of 75 years of Formula 1.