Formula 1 Managing Director of Motorsports Ross Brawn has said F1 is keen on avoiding a clash with Indianapolis 500.
This season marked the first time since 2003 that Indy 500 didn’t clash with an F1 race. The Monaco GP took place a week earlier, avoiding a clash in schedule. With the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway always taking place on the weekend of Memorial Day, it presents a problem.
As such, the Monaco GO may need to shift its timing slightly. Speaking to RACER, Brawn said it would be considered if it is better for motorsport.
“Certainly from our perspective — Formula One Management — we embrace all motorsport, because one of my ex-colleagues Sean Bratches used to say that when the tide rises, all the boats go up, and we believe that very strongly,” Brawn said. “If you increase the interest in motorsport, more fans get engaged.
“Drive to Survive has been a great success — it’s brought fans into Formula 1; there’s no doubt that those fans will be looking at other forms of motorsport as well because suddenly, they’ve found this new world. And we’re the same; we want the Indy 500 to be a huge success so that when we go to America, fans will cross over.
“It’s great that it didn’t clash this weekend — it gave me a chance to watch it as I wasn’t traveling back from Monaco for once! We embrace all forms of motorsport. It’s great a Formula 1 team — McLaren — are involved there now. Formula 1 drivers have always been involved there. It tends to be a follow-on career, but maybe if it doesn’t clash, it doesn’t have to be,” Brawn explained.
Joining hands
Brawn also pointed out the connection with Roger Penske, owner of the IndyCar series. He sugested this could open the doors for a future collaboration between the racing franchises.
“We’re totally open. I think our management here, including myself, are completely open to any of those sort of possibilities,” Brawn said.
“First and foremost, it has to enhance the sporting spectacle. We don’t want any of this to turn into any sort of false event, but we’re very open to those sort of initiatives.
“And of course, Indy on that side of things is being run by an old friend of ours now in Roger Penske. Roger’s always had an interest in Formula 1 and been involved at times in Formula 1. So there’s very real possibilities for collaborations in the future,” he concluded.
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