A midweek proposition

In the main, racing has been the preserve of weekends. But does a pandemic-enforced experiment show that international motorsport is missing a weekday trick?

port is a distraction, and one that takes place at weekends. The first race of the 1931 European Drivers’championship – distant forebearer to Formula 1 – was the Italian Grand Prix at Monza on 24 May, a Sunday. Precedent set, motorsport has overwhelmingly taken place at a weekend.

There are fleeting exceptions. Occasionally NASCAR Truck Series races stray onto a Thursday or Friday, national club events can occupy a bank holiday Monday or, in the case of the Plumb Pudding meeting at Mallory Park, whichever day Boxing Day falls on. The Marathon de la Route on the Nordschleife would run from Tuesday through until Saturday.

Still taking place at Zandvoort is the Zomeravond Competitie. Roughly translated as‘summer Evening Competition’, these events continue to run midweek 25 years after their inception, with Assen adopting a similar format.

There’s one (or perhaps four) more recent and notable example that comes from Formula E. Searching for a conclusion to the 2019-20 season amid the pandemic, the solution was six races held over nine days all at Tempelhof Airport in Berlin. Taking place across three double-headers, the first and last of these were split over a Wednesday and Thursday evening.

As many nations regress to a second state of lockdown, and more countries are added to the UK’S list of‘only for essential travel’,

Sthere’s no guarantee that next year’s F1, FE, World Endurance

(and so on) calendars won’t be subject to further disruption.

If that’s the case, and organisers are left scrambling for substitute dates, could midweek races provide a solution?

For FE, that’s absolutely something to be explored. The provisional 2020-21 calendar has already been approved by the FIA, with FE returning to its usual Saturday slots (plus two Sundays for the Diriyah and London double-headers). But as championship chief executive Jamie Reigle tells Autosport, the Berlin finale has been an eye-opener for the flexibility that might be required.

“We’re going to work really hard to deliver the [2020-21] calendar,”he says.“but of course, we have an obligation to have a plan B and plan C… Do I think we’ll do six races at the same venue in the space of a week again? No. Do I think we might do some double-headers or triple-headers if necessary? And could those happen on a weekday? Yes.”

There are complications. One of these is commercial. Some FE team sponsors requested up to a 50% discount from their original contracts. But part of that is down to their logos being plastered on a car that raced in seven fewer countries than originally expected.

To what extent TV viewing figures would dictate retaining a weekend schedule is open to debate. Although live numbers will remain king, the proliferation of on-demand services means people watching on‘catch-up’can bolster the ratings. FE estimates that only a quarter of its total audience tunes in for the actual race. The remainder is people watching highlights across social media and other less traditional platforms.

Football and, most notably, the Premier League should also be considered. From Saturday 1500hr kick-offs, there’s been an explosion of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night games. Although it has a much bigger audience than motorsport, an annual £1.7 billion TV rights package proves that moving away from weekend slots is an economically viable model. As the former commercial director of Manchester United, Reigle knows this well.

Even if F1 remains steadfast in its commitment to Sundays, this offers other series a massive opportunity. Rather than being lost to a crowded schedule, should a high-profile GT series, for example, move to a midweek slot, it might just be picked up by a broadcaster and tap into a wider live audience. Not to mention, a more diffuse running order could help avoid the WEC/FE/IMSA Sportscar clashes that require drivers to be at multiple tracks at once.

Perhaps, this is where FE comes in once more. All-electric cars, predominantly street circuits, fanboost, attack mode – these now core elements of the championship might not be to everyone’s taste, but it shows a willingness to defy motorsport convention. Why not extend that to the calendar? That’s the sentiment of Venturi Racing FE team principal Susie Wolff.

“What Formula E have been great in is, because they’re like a small start-up, they’re willing to take risks and they’re willing to do things differently,”she says.“so, if they see that there’s been advantages to racing midweek then why not? It’s something that we can definitely be open to. We don’t need to be traditionally racing on weekends.”

When Autosport asked various FE drivers and teams for their view on the adoption of midweek events, the overwhelming consensus was positive – with a smattering of more ambivalent ‘why not’responses. In the wake of Berlin, like Reigle, their main concern is avoiding a repeat of six races in just nine days.

Like so many industries affected by COVID-19, the pandemic has presented motorsport with a need to innovate in certain areas. The calendar needn’t be immune to this.

“Because Formula E is like a small start-up, they’re willing to take risks, do things differently”