P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Toto Wolff would like to see a return for F1 to a country it last raced in during the 2013 season.
Toto Wolff is advocating for Formula 1 to reconsider hosting a South Korean Grand Prix, identifying the nation as an “untapped market.” The Korean GP was previously held at the Yeognam Circuit from 2010 to 2013 but was cancelled in 2014 due to contractual disagreements, resulting in significant financial losses.
Following the removal of the Malaysian GP from the calendar, F1 now has three races in the Asian market, with no new additions despite the increasing popularity of grand prix racing. Despite a planned Vietnamese GP being cancelled in 2020 and not rescheduled due to corruption charges against the organising chairman unrelated to the race.
Mercedes, with driver Valtteri Bottas, is planning a demonstration run in South Korea, prompting Wolff’s endorsement for a potential comeback. Wolff highlighted the expanding young female audience aged 15 to 24, predominantly active on social media, as a key factor in targeting the tech-savvy South Korean market’s potential.
With F1 currently hosting races in China, Japan, and Singapore in Asia, important calendar changes are being made to regionalise grands prix and explore new opportunities. Plans for races rotating and strategic calendar scheduling indicate the possibility of a return to South Korea to fill the perceived void in East Asia, supported by F1 President and CEO Stefano Domenicali’s objective to ensure a well-balanced and commercially viable calendar structure.
