Chase Carey comments on Formula 1’s competitive start of the season. Formula One is excited by the possibility of a race in Vietnam as part of an expansion in Asia.

Irish-American executive Chase Carey, who is the chief executive officer and executive chairman of the Formula One Group, said that he is pleased with the standard of competition so far this season after three teams have each won two of the first six races, ahead of the 2018 Canadian Grand Prix, which will take place this weekend in Montreal. However, the Liberty Media boss says Formula 1 still needs to become more competitive than it has been so far this year.

“It has been a good season to start [with]. We’ve had a mix of drivers and teams competing, we’d like to make that mix even broader. Jean [Todt] touched on it when he talked about the initiatives we have under way looking to 2021 with the teams. We want to continue to try to make sure the sport delivers the action, the unpredictable, the underdog winning. I think the competition’s been good, we have had some unexpected results. But I still think we can make it bigger, we can make it more exciting, we can make it more unpredictable. That’s what makes sports great for fans.” – he explained.

At the same time, Formula One is excited by the possibility of a race in Vietnam as part of an expansion in Asia but Europe remains the bedrock of the sport, chief executive Chase Carey said earlier this week. Formula One has been discussing with the Vietnamese authorities about staging a street race in Hanoi, possibly as early as 2020, but a deal has yet to be confirmed. The country is a growing market for sponsors such as brewer Heineken and would be a fifth Asian race on the calendar, making up for the departure of Malaysia.

“Vietnam’s a very exciting country. A country that’s caught the world’s imagination and in many ways that’s where we want to be,” Chase Carey told a sport conference in Manila organised by the governing FIA. The American said the sport was looking for great racing and “great platforms to really thrill the world and really be a destination that everybody wants to go to – “I think we’re excited about the opportunity to grow in Asia, we’re excited about the opportunities that we’re discussing in Vietnam, certainly,” he added.

Chase Carey, who has been in charge since Liberty Media’s Formula One takeover in January last year, said Asia was a priority region as the ‘growth engine’ of the world.