Formula 1 will hold two fan festival events in the United States during the 2019 season, one in Los Angeles and one in Chicago, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), F1’s sanctioning body, recenty confirmed, as reported by the leading publication in the sports business world, sportsbusinessdaily.com.
This comes after Formula 1 held its first fan fest in the United States last year in Miami. While the US Grand Prix ran at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, the fifth edition of an F1 festival took place in downtown Miami, as the focus was on show runs by Formula 1 cars from different eras. “The F1 Miami Festival was all about giving our fans the opportunity to get closer to the teams, cars and drivers they love,” explained Sean Bratches, managing director, commercial operations at Formula 1. The fact that on Saturday alone, 80,000 fans followed the action in Downtown Miami, is “great” according to Sean Bratches, who thanked the local authorities for the smooth running of the event – “It would not be possible without the support of the Miami City and County authorities, the Miami Police Department and the other emergency services who have supported us throughout the weekend.”
In addition to this, downtown Melbourne will host a gala Formula 1 season launch on March 13 ahead of the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix the following weekend at Albert Park. The event will be held in Federation Square and will broadly follow the format used for a similar event last year in London prior to the British Grand Prix, in which all the drivers (except for reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton, who controversially declined to attend) were introduced on stage and interviewed in front of the crowd.
Formula 1 has promised that all 20 drivers and 10 team bosses will attend the Melbourne event. It will be the first time a formal Formula 1 season-launch has been held. The event will also feature past F1 stars and musical acts, and will be streamed online internationally across social media platforms.
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