New Sports Minister of Argentina, Matias Lammens, hopes that F1 returns to the country in the next few years, for the first time since 1998.
With Mexico back on the F1 calendar and a possible grand prix in Panama being looked at, Argentina sports minister, Lammens, has voiced his intention in bringing back the sport in the country, for the first time since the 1998 event.
F1 first visited Argentina in 1953 and had been in the country and on the calendar until 1998 at Autodromo de Buenos Aires Juan y Oscar Galvez – which included few off years as well. It was supposed to take place in 1999 but it didn’t happen.
Reports of a return of Argentina GP came about in 2013 at a new venue, while in 2018, the talk was back on regarding the old venue – but both didn’t materialise as such. The latest talk, though, is not from F1 side but it is from the new sports minister.
“We are a pole of sporting attraction, especially for the athletes we have,” said Lammens, in an interview to Diario AS Argentina. “We would like to work to make F1 come back in a few years. For Argentina it would be very interesting at a sports and tourist level.
“While it is an important investment I think we can work with some private sponsors to get it. [My work] is a challenge that we take with great enthusiasm. It is complex because the sport, during the four years of the previous government, was a de-hierarchical area and lacked funding.
“This has been clearly seen in how we have found the infrastructure and the athletes, and not only the high-performance ones.” Interestingly, like Mexico, Lammens is looking at private sponsors for F1 and not using public money to run the event.
It is still early days with Lammens only becoming a minister last month. Argentina already hosts MotoGP at Autodromo Termas de Rio Hondo, while Villa Carlos Paz in Cordoba hosts the FIA World Rally Championship round.
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