Organisers of the inaugural Baku Formula One Grand Prix have strongly denied suggestions the race is in jeopardy due to the fall in oil prices.
A flurry of reports coming out of the Country yesterday suggested the Azerbaijan government could rethink the amount of money they are spending to host the race after oil prices continued to plummet and the Countries national currency (Manat) collapsed. Azerbaijan relies heavily on its oil trade for finances and the continued fall in the price of oil has hit the Country hard which in turn caused the collapse of the Manat.
Despite the country clearly suffering a financial meltdown the chief organisers of the Baku race move quickly to dispell rumours of the race being postponed or even cancelled. Motorsport.com reported a copy of the statement from the spokesman for the organisers were he was adamant the event due to be held in June would not be at risk regardless of the Countries financial stability.
“The devaluation of the Manat will have no impact with regards to the staging of the first ever Formula 1 race in Azerbaijan,” said a spokesman for the Baku City Circuit (BCC).
“In fact, when the budget for the Grand Prix of Europe was approved, it was initially calculated in US dollars. As a result, we are not expecting any changes to the current event budget.
“BCC shares the concerns of everyone at the current devaluation of our national currency. BCC also accepts that staging such a major event requires a significant financial outlay.
“However, we would once again stress that the overall economic impact – both short and long-term, direct and indirect – created by staging an F1 race will be of huge benefit to the national economy.”
The spokesman added that rather than being a drain on the economy, the race would actually prove to deliver a boost.
“The impact of increased tourism and direct visitor spending that will be injected into Baku area business establishments such as restaurants, bars, hotels and retailers will see millions, if not more, pumped into the economy.
“Similarly, the hosting of the race itself will create thousands of jobs directly and indirectly linked to the event.
“We are confident that the staging of this race will not only play a major part in aiding the recovery in the short term but in driving the national economy forward for years to come, outweighing any existing concerns being levelled against the cost of staging it.”
With so much excitement surrounding the inaugural race in Azerbaijan, it would be a real blow to Bernie Ecclestone and FOM if the race was to be cancelled like the German Grand Prix in 2015.
