Villeneuve: Europe is not a big moneymaker for Formula 1 anymore

As the sport continues to expand into new markets, 1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve has expressed his belief that Europe is no longer the epicentre of Formula 1. He shared his thoughts on the sport's shifting geography and the challenges facing traditional venues.

With new venues vying for a spot on the F1 calendar, Villeneuve believes Europe’s prominence is diminishing, despite its deep-rooted history in the sport: “There’s too many races geographically which are very close to each other There’s more venues in Europe that want to have races, but there’s no space in the calendar. Europe is not a big moneymaker for Formula 1 anymore.”

He explained that while teams and fans favour European circuits, financial realities dictate the sport’s global focus. “You cannot suddenly remove races from the Middle East, from the East, from North America, from the places that are big money-making, from the new markets.

"And you still need to go to Africa. So you need to open up some markets. That might explain the Spa deal. You’re not reducing the amount of races in Europe.”

Villeneuve also addressed the challenges modern cars pose to Spa-Francorchamps, despite its iconic status. “The modern cars have outgrown the track. A corner like Le Rouge is not a corner anymore. It’s just dangerous. Even Pouhon has been flat once or twice. Blanchimont is not even a corner. They can go side by side, so the cars have too much downforce, and those corners are just dangerous without being corners.

“It’s a shame because it’s a beautiful track; it’s so much fun to drive. It’s one of my favourites as there’s good racing as well. But I always find it pointless to have a dangerous corner that doesn’t need to be driven," added Villeneuve, who survived several big shunts in his carrer including a couple at Eau Rouge

With Cape Town recently submitting a bid to host a race in South Africa, Villeneuve highlighted the importance of Formula 1’s return to the continent.

“The modern track at Kyalami wasn’t very nice. The old track was fun, but I don’t think you could even do it now. Half of it doesn’t exist anymore,” Villeneuve explained.

He added: “You probably need two races in Africa, and you need it somewhere else, somewhere in proper middle Africa. But I don’t know enough about Africa to say what would be a good landscape. F1 needs more than just a racetrack. It needs infrastructure, the hotels, the airports. It needs everything around it.”

Villeneuve also discussed the potential threat to European circuits, including Zandvoort and Silverstone, due to the sport’s evolving priorities.

“They made it clear that it was the end of Zandvoort, which is a shame. I don’t understand it because it’s bold, it’s amazing. It’s a great race, and it’s different. What’s fun about Zandvoort is it looks different than most other tracks,” Villeneuve said. “It’s like Monaco. So, it’s fun. You need tracks that are different. When you go to all these new modern tracks, they all look the same. So, it becomes very redundant.”

He pointed out logistical issues faced by older circuits. “Take Austria. Great race, great venue. There’s no hotels. You need to either rent a room and a farm, which makes it complicated with the amount of fans that you have now.”

Regarding Silverstone, Villeneuve acknowledged its importance but cautioned against complacency. “Silverstone is complicated. They’ve done an amazing job with the traffic and the road system. It really works well. It’s surprising. It’s an amazing job they do every year at Silverstone, but it’s still complicated.”

He added: “But we thought there would always be a German Grand Prix, there would always be a French Grand Prix. Guess what? They’re expendable. The difference with Silverstone in the UK is that 80% of the teams are based around there, so the teams want it. They put a lot of pressure to make sure that the race stays in the UK.”

Villeneuve noted that older venues often fall short in meeting Formula 1’s elevated expectations for VIP experiences. “The issue often with the old venues is they’re not VIP enough. F1 has made a step change with the crowds, the guests, with the hostelry, with the restaurants. Old-fashioned racetracks lack that.”