I have just got home from the launch of the 2018 French Grand Prix and it is very clear from proceedings today at the Automobile Club de France that the man who has made this happen is Christian Estrosi.
If you’re not French you may never have heard of him, but he’s an interesting fellow, who I first encountered back in 1984 when he was driving a Mike Rowe Racing Ralt in the European Formula 3 Championship. I was the only Englishman reporting on the series at the time but at the time my French was not very good and his English was dreadful and so we didn’t talk a great deal, although I was kept up to speed with his adventures by the team boss Mike Rowe.
Estrosi was 28 at the time (he is now 61) and it was clear that he was never going to climb higher up the racing ladder, but he had been a swashbuckling motorcycle rider and something of a hell-raiser in his day. He had competed in 500cc World Championship motorcycle racing, so he was clearly a man who liked to go racing. Even then he was already sporting attaché for the city of Nice, under the mayor Jacques Médecin, who ruled the city from 1966 to 1990. Estrosi went on to hold an impressive array of local positions including being the député (similar to an MP) for Nice from 1988-1993, 1997-2005 and 2008-2009. He was elected Mayor of Nice in 2008 and held various government ministerial positions from 2005 onwards, becoming Minister of Industry in 2010. He became president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur at the end of last year. This is a regional government body with wide-ranging powers, which encompasses six departéments (counties) and is the third most important region in France in terms of the economy, behind the Ile de France (Paris) and Rhone-Alpes (Lyon). The region has a GDP of more than $US 180 billion.
To give you an idea of the man, he celebrated his 60th birthday by climbing Mont Blanc. He was originally married to another politician, Dominique Sassone, who is now a French senator, but a couple of weeks ago he married journalist Laura Tenoudji, a woman 20 years his junior. He is a man of energy and ambition and as soon as he became head of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region he began planning to bring back the French Grand Prix. There had been various anaemic campaigns to revive the race in the course of the last 10 years, but the national sporting authority has never shown much energy in this respect so it was only when Estrosi arrived that things started to happen. He has now put together a consortium of different regional bodies to come up with $15 million. A further $17 million will be raised with ticket sales and partnerships and he hopes that the race will attract 66,000 spectators in 2018. The investment is justified by the fact that the regional government has calculated that the race will have an economic impact on the region of $69 million and thus an investment of only $15 million is a good deal, which will bring a five-fold return. During the press conference, he pointed out that the Grand Prix was far more cost-effective than the investment that the region makes in the SNCF, the national railway company, which costs $270 million a year and is perpetually on strike. That shut up the financial journalists who were looking for a story about wasting public money…
Estrosi reckons that the race will create 500 jobs, but he won’t discuss the details of his deal with FOM, saying that the fees are in line with other European races, but it is reckoned that the payments to the Formula One group will be in the region of $22 million a year, which leaves the consortium with $8 million to pay for the event.
Estrosi did not mess about with his negotiations and went straight to McLaren’s Eric Boullier to make contact with Ecclestone. It was a clever strategy and the deal was done very quickly. The five-year contract was signed on December 1.
joeblogsf1 
Every serious, rigorous, independent study of the economics of public “investment” in large-scale sporting events and venues shows that they almost always destroy economic value for taxpayers.
At the same time it’s easy to run a few spreadsheets with flawed assumptions, put together a power point presentation, and convince others (and yourself) otherwise.
That said, I’m glad there’s going to be a French Grand Prix, and that I don’t pay taxes in France and Provence-Alpes Côte d’Azur
Boy, you’re real fun to have around…
Just keeping it real, Joe. Like I said, I’m glad there’s going to be a French Grand Prix. But if the business model of F1 can’t be made economic for all stakeholders, i.e. teams and circuits/promoters, then it does not have a long term future.
Frankly, given the looming electrification of the auto industry – battery electrics, not hybrids – as well as autonomous driving capabilities, it does not have a long term future anyways.
Of course it makes no sense financially… but let’s not worry about that… let’s just be glad the French GP will be back 🙂
It makes sense to me
I can remember him almost winning The Dutch TT, but he fell of his bike riding on a wet track like nobody told him it had rained. That year my countryman Wil Hartog won, which is why I will never forget. Very much a daredevil, this guy.
Thanks for that image Dennis, I will remember him for a daring TT drive and now a daring step to bring F1 back to france 🙂
Let’s hope the race will be a success. I can see proposing a nice week or two in the Provance to my wife for 2018 🙂
Welcome back to the French Grand Prix! Would that everything in F1 was that straightforward . . .
Great news Joe. I will try to combine the 2018 GP with a service on my Morgan 3 Wheeler, which is done on the industrial estate next to the Paul Ricard circuit. Is the circuit still owned by the Bambino Trust or was that just the airfield part?
Yes, it is
Thanks I as going to ask that also.
I did, sorry 😉 before seeing this.
A few years ago, when in a private plane, we were diverted from Toulon to Le Castellet, for “military” reasons at Toulon. While we were waiting for a taxi to take us back to Toulon to pick up our cars, Bernie landed in his plane. It must really squeak having to pay the trust of his ex-wife landing fees.
That’s a real good news to see that Grand Prix back…! Too bad it won’t be in 2017 then.
Thank you again Joe for this excellent résumé of the deal and the story of M. Estrosi.
I loved going to Ricard for the 1990 race and have great memories of the region. I’m glad it’s returned there; who knows, I might well be tempted…..
Excellent news Joe! I would definitely make the effort to attend in 2018. Thanks for the background on the negotiations. Very interesting.
Joe, I have to be honest, I think you bluffing with this whole story.
A politician who just gets things done, I’m not having it!!
Well I can confirm they only need to sell 65,998 tickets now. Ricard is a nearly classic circuit and one I have wanted to go and see F1 at.
Is it still owned by BCE?
No
Fantastic….I went to the last French GP at Magny Cours….and as a lad recall being memorised to the new circuit named after the drink….will defo go in 2018.
Hi Joe, I remember quite a while ago ( years ) there was a story about Paul Ricard and how at the time it was being used to trial different safety measures like the sticky run off stuff that slows the cars, different bitumens etc. it was also written that Bernie had invested a sizeable chunk into the circuit as sort of a pet project. Any idea if Bernie still has a vested interest in the circuit? (If he ever did of course)
The circuit is owned by a company called Excelis. This is owned by an entity in Mauritius (last time I checked). This leads to the Bambino Trust, which is the Ecclestone Family trust fund. This it cannot be owned nor run by Bernie without massive tax implications. He says he had nothing to do with the trust and it is all run by a Swiss lawyer.
Do you suppose the Swiss lawyer pays attention to Bernie’s desires and wishes? Wouldn’t rule it out…
If that was ever proved… Bernie would get a very large large bill as the trust would not be operating properly and the money would then be liable for tax
Joe, I apologise in advance for the off-topic question, but these news reminded me of the last French F1 team – has the story of Prost Grand Prix’s demise ever been properly told somewhere?
I only know of a book written by Renaud de Laborderie (‘Prost Grand Prix Vérités secrètes’), but unfortunately it’s hard to find it at affordable prices. And Prost never fulfilled his promise of publishing his own take on the whole story.
I believe that Renault Sport F1 is a French team…
They might be owned by a French company, but they certainly do not have their whole operations based in France or make their chassis there. Thanks in any case.
Off topic, but I’m curious: How good are you these days at speaking French?
Do you have a knack for languages, or has it been a struggle?
I ask because as a US’ian I have zip experience in learning another language… rationally, I know I could learn, but emotionally it feels impossible…
I’ve made sincere efforts when I’ve visited Europe, but Europeans see me struggling and decide to help me by speaking English… so the learning curve only lasts about 2 sentences before it’s over…
I don’t feel I’m great at it, but most folks seem to think I do ok. I’ve done live TV shows in French so I must not be too bad!
I watched one of the F1 magazine shows you were on and you sounded like a natural. I don’t speak a word of French, if that is any comfort to you. It all looked very affable, like you should have been all enjoying a glass of wine and a cheese board.
Many years ago I worked in the motor industry and had to come and work in France. Had “O” level French that was of no use conversationally and was sent to a language laboratory for 4 weeks in Kidderminster. Very good and set me up well. Then you just have to immerse yourself – hard work. The good Lord Stokes told me to get a sleeping dictionary, not an option at the time I had just got married.
If you visit near Paris you will find many who speak English and wish to practice. It is now a requirement in most large companies that you have passed a proficiency exam (75% pass mark) but out in the provinces very few speak English so that should be your target.
The Government has finally swallowed its pride and English is now the second language taught so the young are getting to grips since it is nowadays essential in an English language dominated world. The problem is many of the teachers are quite unable to speak themselves.
Not sure if this is any help !
Richard Piers> The Government has finally swallowed its pride and English is now the second language taught…
Out of interest, what was the second language that was taught previous to the pride-swallowing? Spanish? German?
This sounds fantastic! My kind of guy too! I’m a bit out of touch with Paul Ricard though. It used to be one of my favorites, although I was a minority in that assessment. I just loved the Mistral Straight and the Signes corner!
The French take food seriously… so I’m guessing they won’t be selling $10 hot dogs and $12 burgers at the race…
What is the French analogue to that kind of fare?
You know they have McDonald’s in France, right?
Not only do they have Macdo’s they are no.2 after the US pro-rata !
Unfortunately.
On reflection, we had a reasonable coffee in a Macdonalds locally in France recently, only because it was lunchtime and the restos were completely full. Quite right too.
“The French take food seriously… so I’m guessing they won’t be selling $10 hot dogs and $12 burgers at the race…”
Isn’t the largest McDonalds in the world located on the Champs Elysees?
For the gazillion tourists?
I was at Paul Ricard (or, to give it its full name, The Paul Ricard High Technology Test Track) a couple of months ago for a historic racing event, and the paddock was offering Croque Madam/Monsuier and Tarte Tropezienne.
Very tasty, and inexpensive too.
If you check out the website you will find that it is no longer called the Paul Ricard High Technology Test Track because it has been reopened to public events. So it is now called Paul Ricard solely
Thanks Joe – I was basing that on the fact that all the branding around the circuit still says Paul Ricard HTTT or, at least, it did a few months ago.
Still, the main point is that the food was scrummy and reasonably priced.
I think I’ll go. Just to prove Gary (see above) wrong.
Tres bien! France has a huge motorsport heritage and should be on the calendar, still amazed the Germans can’t get their act together as even in my tiny Holland a serious discussion has started to get F1 back with VES now doing not too badly 🙂
I hope they succeed in Holland, because it sure will be one of the biggest and most fan-crazy events in the whole calendar, thanks to Max Verstappen!
The Dutch are good at the Dakar, they have their TT at Assen, they run a prestigious F3 event, and now they also have a prospective F1 World Champion. All they need is the Grand Prix…
Great circuit, great food, great wine , great beaches and just down the road on Eurostar! The presence of French drivers on the grid must have helped during the negotiations. Big well done to all concerned!
,
Does the circuit need much upgrading? If so, will Bambino Trust pick up the bill? Somehow, I think the answer might be no.
But great news, in any event.
Good news, Joe, and digging out my copy of your book “The World Atlas of Motor Racing” reminds me to ask about an updated version?
I know you mentioned that it was in the pipeline earlier this year.
Well done to M. Estrosi and all that came together to bring one of the traditional European races back to the calendar. Makes a welcome change from Azerbaijan and Russia as new races.
Almost certainly going there in 2018, they deserve the support.
That €270 million to the SNCF is incredible. Much as I love the TGV, does make you wonder about the benefits of a nationalised system, and I realise the French and British railways are very different.
Glad the race is back, think I’ll have to pay it a visit!
Joe, was it announced which version of the track will be used? Hopefully it will be the full circuit and not the truncated version.
No, it was not announced. I doubt it is even decided
Joe, surely the hotel occupancy rates in the south of France in the middle of the summer will be full anyway?
In Toulon?
I’d assumed being 10km from the sea would be close enough for it to get some decent tourism and hence high numbers. No issue that it isn’t, will help keep the trip costs down.
Time to drink some pastis
I haven’t been to a grand prix in years, but this is tempting.
Thanks for the insight and pleased to see the return of the French Grand Prix. It all came about very quickly! A late August slot (being mooted) is not traditional but it is logical. Personally, I’m probably the only person a bit sad that it’s not going back to Magny-Cours. Like Joe our family was fortunate to live in the Parisian outskirts for a few years growing up and the 2000 French GP was the first one I went to, so Magny will always have special memories for me. Although it was often derided as dull on and off track, some of the races were interesting (we were lucky to get a very good one in 2000) and maybe that TGV(?) line to Nevers that finally got built a few years ago would have helped with the fanbase. But credit to Mr Estrosi for having the vision and drive to get a deal done for Paul Ricard and the Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur region. And good luck to him with the economic model.
His biography is colorful, not to say controversial.
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Estrosi
By the way, this weekend it’s the Rallycircuit at Circuit Paul Ricard, featuring Loeb, Yvan Muller and Romain Dumas.