F1 Grand Prix: Azerbaijan's formula of success
Stats, facts and achievements

SOCIETY 09 May 2023 - 10:06

Brightly coloured Formula 1 race cars rushing through the streets of Baku, Azerbaijan's postcard-perfect capital, seem to announce our country to the world with the roar of their powerful motors. This is not an exaggeration, but a fact, given that a huge number of people around the world have become spectators of the Baku stage of the most prestigious automobile race on the planet. There are many ways to assess this fact, but one cannot fail to recognize it as an important success for our country.

Meanwhile, there is sometimes a certain tendency both in society and the media to associate F1 only with temporary traffic jams in Baku caused by race, blocked roads, and fenced pavements. Well, naturally, such opinions are viable. But at the same time, it is a superficial approach, which is far from objectivity. We sometimes see only the tip of the iceberg - the temporary inconveniences caused by Formula 1, while the global benefits of racing for the country are left aside...

Meanwhile, two more important components which are foreign policy (propaganda) and economics cannot be discounted at all. Let's start with the fact that the Baku stage of Formula 1 is a kind of bright, original, positive showcase that presents Azerbaijan to the world. There are more than 1.5 billion racing fans in the world, while about 100-150 million usually watch races live in a particular country. Naturally, they see not only powerful cars but also the beauty of Baku, its exquisite historical and modern architecture – starting with the fortress walls of Icherisheher of the XII century, the architectural houses of the oil boom of the early twentieth century, and ending with the upward-looking Flame Towers. The race is taking place in the capital of not some ordinary, but modern, actively developing country, an independent, well-known state in the world. This is a huge contribution to the popularisation of Azerbaijan in the world, bolstering the authority of our country in the international arena.

After all, Azerbaijan is a tiny spot on the world map in terms of territory. Despite this, there are a number of factors in terms of foreign policy - active participation in ensuring energy security in Europe, the implementation of large-scale transport and energy projects, close cooperation with Islamic, Turkic, and Christian countries, Israel as well as with Asian countries, chairmanship in the Non-Aligned Movement, traditional multiculturalism, the great victory in the Patriotic War of autumn 2020, etc. - have made Azerbaijan famous far beyond the region. Formula 1 is not just an afterthought, but a very important tool, a kind of "soft power", a perfect chance to introduce our country to the world through the wide sports audience of this most important, prestigious, and spectacularly attractive automobile racing competition of the planet.

These are not all the benefits of racing for Azerbaijan. But there is another real return - on several occasions, the Baku Grand Prix has been voted the best race of the season in terms of visual appeal. It is not without reason that we are seeing the extension of Formula contracts - you must agree that if it was not profitable for the parties, then any extension would be out of the question. The configuration of the Baku track, with its height differences, long straights and tight corners, and narrow places is very interesting and favourable for competition and manoeuvring at high speed (hence the sometimes unexpected results and an active struggle of the teams).

The country generates hard currency revenues, including sponsorship and advertising. Azerbaijan's total revenue from Formula One races in Baku in 2016-2017 was $277.3 million, of which $164.2 million was profit. One thousand business entities took part in their holding, and $22.7 million was received from tourism, hotel, and transport services. Moreover, for 8 years many Baku hotels have been 100% booked each time, and local specialists, marshals, technicians, etc. have been trained. Around 1,000 employees, 1,500 volunteers, and 1,470 marshals were involved in various organisational activities of Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2023. According to the official data of the Baku City Circuit operating company, during the first four years of the Formula One Grand Prix event, it brought $500 million in revenues to Azerbaijan's economy.

The races bring many tourists to Azerbaijan, choosing new countries and new routes. "Formula 1" is one of the most popular sporting events in the world, which automatically strengthens Baku's position in the list of popular tourist destinations during the race. Tourists visiting the Azerbaijani Grand Prix spend 3-4 days in the country, and expend money in the capital and then in the regions. F1 fans are the most solvent among all categories of sports fans. Their numbers are growing steadily. Whereas previously the leaders in buying tickets were Russia, Britain, Georgia, Germany, the Netherlands, and Finland, now other European countries and Arab countries have also joined the ranks. The number of countries, fans from which buy tickets for Baku races, far exceeds a hundred.

The State Tourism Agency told Caliber.Az that in April Azerbaijan received the biggest number of tourists since the beginning of the year - 154,233 people, which is 83% more than in April 2022. Taking into account that 119,094 tourists visited the country in January, 113,473 in February, and 136,505 in March, it is clear that this significant increase (nearly 20,000 people) speaks for itself, and would have obviously been impossible without Formula 1.

But it is not only the number of spectators that is increasing, the geography of the races is also expanding. Compared to the past six years, the number of foreign fans coming to Azerbaijan to watch Formula 1 this year has hit the record. In particular, for the first time ever Azerbaijan F1 Grand Prix has been visited by fans from more than 100 countries. This means that fans from almost half of the world were represented at the race in Baku. According to Baku City Circuit, this year all 30,000 tickets were sold out, so about 30,000 spectators watched the race live, including about 16,000 directly from the stands.

Every year, hundreds of foreign journalists come to the capital to cover the Formula 1 races. Prestigious sports channels and news agencies such as ESPN, Sky Sports, Motorsport, and Autosport cover the races with a television audience of 1.55 billion people.

The capital city of Baku and the Azerbaijan Grand Prix were in the limelight during the race weekend thanks to official F1 social media accounts with 10 million followers. In addition, the Baku race has been broadcast for five seasons in the series Drive to Survive, broadcast on the popular US online platform Netflix. Note that the platform has 232.5 million subscribers worldwide!

The longer the race lasts, the more profitable it is for the country. What's the catch? The point is that we have already at the very beginning purchased the paddock and other structures, fencing, nets, signs, etc. A new asphalt surface was laid on the whole length of the track, including the ascent from the Azneft Circle (Niyazi Street), and grandstands and infrastructure were purchased. That is, the main, capital investments have been made long ago, and from each race, there is already income, and expenses are becoming less and less, and it is already a trend.

Finally, when analysing the foreign press, you can see how many users wrote about the Azerbaijani Grand Prix and shared this information. So it is a huge contribution to the popularisation of our country. After all, tourists share what they see with their friends or through social networks with more people, talk about their experiences, and make our capital even more attractive to other tourists. All this greatly outweighs a week of heavy traffic jams in Baku.

To recap, we can say that Formula 1 brings more and more tangible benefits and financial gains to Azerbaijan every year and will surely bring even more until 2026.