FIA’s Reid “Very Supportive” of No Le Mans, F1 Clash in 2023

Photo: MPS Agency

FIA Deputy President for Sport Robert Reid said he would be “very supportive” of helping alleviate a date clash between the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Formula 1, especially heading into the French endurance classic’s centenary race next year.

This year’s Le Mans, which returns to its traditional mid-June date, clashes with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku for the second time after 2016 when the two events also were on the same weekend.

While not featuring any active F1 drivers on the grid since Nico Hulkenberg won Le Mans in 2015 with Porsche, Kevin Magnussen was due to be in a High Class Racing LMP2 entry with his father, Jan, prior to Kevin’s late call-up at Haas, which eliminated any hope of the father-and-son pairing’s entry that was first on the reserve list.

Speaking to reporters during last weekend’s TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa, the former WRC co-driver expressed hopes of a resolution being made in time for next year’s event.

“I was sat at dinner last night opposite Pierre Fillon, so I certainly know the ACO’s view on the subject, particularly with a centenary coming up next year,” said Reid.

“One of the challenges we have is that the FIA doesn’t’ have autonomy over the calendars. WEC works in the way that all championships bar FIA works, in that the promoter will propose a calendar and then it’s up to the FIA to accept that calendar or not.

“In some championships, that’s restricted to safety matters or whatever. Formula 1 is slightly different in that they pretty much decide what the calendar is.

“I think it’s down to a bit of negotiation, but I would certainly be very supportive of there not being a clash, generally. But specifically next year, it is a good opportunity for us to say that we’re not having a clash next year, and that should be the norm going forward.”

Reid said the the FIA’s relationship with F1’s stakeholder Liberty Media is a “situation we’ve inherited” and something that FIA President Mohammed bin Sulayem is keen to ensure the FIA has more visibility on decision-making situations.

“The way that the Formula 1 Commission is set up gives the FIA the opportunity to decide not to support certain things,” Reid said.

“You will have all seen that the F1 Commission, on sprint races… the FIA President decided to delay his support of increasing [the number of] sprint races until he understood the situation moving forward.

“I know a lot of the press have made a big thing of that. I’m not sure it’s as big a thing as it has been made of. But that is one way the FIA can make sure that things are going in the right direction, and not just agree all the time.”

When asked if it’s the FIA’s position to avoid the clash in the future, Reid said: “I would need to talk to the President on that but it’s certainly my view that for next year, particularly in a centenary year, it would be very good if we didn’t have a clash.

“And then look at what we can do going forward. We’re kind of running out of weekends, now that championships have got more and more rounds.

“Somebody joked yesterday about Formula 1 potentially having 56 rounds in a 54-week year. It’s a challenge. But sport is growing, and you’ve got to take advantage of that era when the sport is doing well and more people want to be involved.”

Daniel Lloyd contributed to this report

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John