How about an F1 race in the Philippines?

MANILA: If the trademarks filed by the Formula One Licensing BV hint towards something, it is the possibility of an F1 race event in the Philippines very soon.

On January 7, 2019, Formula One Licensing BV applied for some trademarks such as ‘PHILIPPINE GRAND PRIX, ‘MANILA GRAND PRIX, and ‘FORMULA ONE PHILIPPINES GRAND PRIX’ at the Intellectual Property Office in Manila.

The trademarks were filed under the classification of sporting activities, printed material, leather goods, clothing, photo & video recording, games and toys, broadcasting, and entertainment by Castillo Laman Tan Pantaleon & San Jose Law Offices.

The news surfacing certainly excites one and all, however, the trademark filings do not clearly mean that the event will be organised in the near future. Sometimes the event organisers just file for trademarks in order to secure the same for future use.

What excites more is that Manila has been a host of the FIA Sport Conference in June 2018. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, also known as FIA is the caretaker of motorsport events across the globe. Prior to Manila, places like Goodwood, Munich, Mexico City, Turin, and Geneva hosted the FIA Sport Conference.

While the possibilities of an F1 race in the Philippines are high, the event might not be organised in Manila due to logistic and traffic issues. It is also to be noted that the F1 race in the Philippines may actually end up being a street circuit race rather than a proper circuit race. The reason being the non-availability of professional circuits of F1 standard. And building a new circuit will certainly take a hell lot of money and time.

At his Pradera Verde estate in Lubao, Pampanga Rodolfo "Bong" Pineda has started to build a 5-km long circuit designed by Hermann Tilke. Along with the in-construction race-track, the facility stars a swimming park, 36-hole golf course, and wakeboard park.

Upon the completion of the race-track construction, the facility will be hosting MotoGP, FIM World Superbike, and GT races with its FIA Grade 2 circuit certification. If the circuit will be upgraded to F1 standards, the costs will only increase.

Along with the building costs, there are other costs which need to be taken care of as well. Forbes tells that the cost of building an F1 circuit is around $ 270 million and then the host also needs to pay an “annual race fee” to F1 which accumulates to $ 400 million for a minimum contract of 10 years. The costs of organising the event would cost $ 57.5 million annually along with additional money that will be spent on marketing and promotions.

While Singapore has extended their F1 hosting contract for 2018-2021, Malaysia did not host an F1 race in 2018 after 37 years of hosting the event. The reason? Singapore made $ 1.1 billion from tourism as the event lured over 450,000 people. Malaysia, on the other hand, experienced a poor turnout and could not benefit from the event.

Statistically, MotoGP which costs less has attracted more people than F1 in recent times. Our neighbour Vietnam will be experiencing their first Grand Prix in 2020. The event will be hosted on a Tilke-designed 5.565-km race-track. With two international grade circuits, specifically in Batangas and Clark,

the Philippines hosted Formula 3 and Formula 4 events in the past, however, the result was not prosperous. Anyways, we hope that F1 will finally come to the country we will witness some thrilling contests soon.

Also Read:- Michelin Energy XM2+ now available in the Philippines