The official announcement of this return, with all the details, was made this Monday, the 5th, in Paris, during a press conference organized at the headquarters of the Automobile Club de France (ACF).
The last French F1 Grand Prix took place in 2008 at the Magny-Cours circuit (Nièvre), near Paris, with a significant deficit covered by the State and local authorities.
It had already taken place at Castellet in the 1970s and 1980s, then the circuit was bought by Bernie Ecclestone, the major financial player of F1, who completely renovated it. He then transferred it to his wife Slavica as part of their high-profile divorce.
Mr. Estrosi promised in the spring, during his campaign to become president of the PACA Region, that he would do his utmost to bring F1 back to Castellet, aiming for tourism benefits stretching from Bouches-du-Rhône to Alpes-Maritimes, including the Var.
The project has been handled with the utmost discretion in recent months, in a small committee, and some French media are already mentioning a five-year contract with Formula One Management (FOM), Mr. Ecclestone’s company that manages the commercial rights of F1 and sells the grid (11 teams and 22 drivers) to each national promoter.
The cost of the F1 grid is currently estimated at 20 million euros in Europe and up to twice that amount in Asia, excluding organizational fees. Only the local authorities in the PACA region would be financially involved in this project, within a Public Interest Group (GIP), with the State remaining on the sidelines, according to sources close to the matter.
The Paul Ricard circuit at Castellet has been hosting the Bol d’Or again since last year, a major motorcycle endurance race, as it did from 1978 to 1999, and it attracted 75,000 spectators over two days last September.
