Australian F1 chief keen on night race

MELBOURNE – The chairman of the Australian Grand Prix has said that he is keen on the event changing to a night race, but admitted on Thursday it would take years of planning.

A handful of Formula One races currently held under artificial lights, including Singapore and Abu Dhabi, saw global TV ratings boosted by the spectacle, Paul Little said.

“I’d love to not rule out a night grand prix,” he told Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper.

“If we could make that work, that would be amazing. An amazing spectacle, but also great for reaching the rest of the F1 audience.”

A night race, in the Australian time zone, would be more favourable for European and US audiences. The latest the grand prix in Melbourne had started was 5pm.

“There is no question more people would watch it if they could see it live at a reasonable hour on the other side of the world,” Little added. “So we will continue to explore the viability and the capability of doing that.”

While it could be held at night, getting the infrastructure in place to make it happen would not be easy, given the expenses, Little said.

“As it is today, we couldn’t run a night race even if we wanted one without a significant amount of work to put lighting in place.”

Little also suggested the Melbourne race could be extended to five or six days of events and entertainment in the future, compared to its current official four-day programme.

“I do see it growing,” he said.

“It will continue to get bigger than just a couple of days of motor racing, for sure.”

The Australian Grand Prix is traditionally one of the drivers’ favourites and also one of the most popular, with nearly 420,000 spectators pouring into Albert Park in 2022 – a record for the country.

Organisers are expecting even more this weekend.

Many will be cheering on Oscar Piastri in his debut home grand prix as the McLaren driver works to improve on his 15th-placed finish a fortnight ago in Saudi Arabia. He failed to finish in the season opener in Bahrain. AFP