A study for a Formula 1 Grand Prix in Nice for 550,000 dollars

The hypothesis

If the city of Nice were chosen to host a F1 Grand Prix, the circuit would be located around the Allianz Riviera, a stadium inaugurated in 2013. However, this project would obviously be extremely expensive. Moreover, the site is too close to Monaco for the returns on such a large amount of money to be sufficient.

The Favorite

The Paul-Ricard circuit, at Le Castellet, is in a better position. Indeed, Le Castellet meets the majority of FOM requirements, namely an FIA-approved circuit (Grade 1), immediately ready to host a Grand Prix, recent experience, and solid infrastructure, assured Christian Estrosi.

However, this solution is far from unanimous, since for example, Flavio Briatore would prefer a Grand Prix near Paris: « Today, with all the sponsors behind F1 and all the people working around it, significant hotel capacity is imperative. And it’s not Le Castellet that can offer it. Paris, yes », he stated to Le Figaro.

The Blind Spots of the Study Conducted by the Interest Group

public (GIP)

Mediapart explains that this structure, responsible for organizing the former French Grand Prix and led by Christian Estrosi (also mayor of Nice), commissioned a study to examine a Grand Prix project in the vicinity of Nice. Launched without the administrators being informed, for a total of $550,000, this study was entrusted to the Formula One World Championship (FOWC), but no report materialized to substantiate the reality of the services rendered, explain the magistrates of the regional chamber of accounts (CRC) of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (Paca) in a provisional report.

Christian Estrosi, a changing opinion on the matter

« There is no question of having a French Grand Prix taking place in Nice », he had declared to L’Équipe a few days before the first payment for the controversial study. […] « I do not

I don’t see under what conditions we could organize it in Nice », he specified. However, in 2024, he assured in the same newspaper: « Nice has all the assets that we have listed ».

A worrying timing

In its report, the CRC emphasizes that « While the financial situation [of the GIP] was already deteriorating and the FOM group [Formula One Management] did not wish to renew a Grand Prix at the Castellet circuit, the leaders exceeded their authority by engaging in negotiations regarding the feasibility of a Grand Prix in Nice or around Nice for a cost of 550,000 dollars, thus committing the GIP beyond its statutory purpose. »

Contacted by Mediapart, Christian Estrosi gave the floor to his lawyer, Olivier Baratelli: « the provisional report of observations [of the CRC] is a confidential report that cannot be disclosed in any way before the final report »

The GIP, too optimistic?

The CRC explains that the anticipated economic benefits are based on a simple methodology that tends to overestimate them, while other studies have concluded on the contrary that the event has a neutral or negative impact. More than 101.5 million euros of public money were mobilized to organize four Formula 1 races, the magistrates recall.

The future of a F1 Grand Prix in France remains uncertain. Between Christian Estrosi’s conflicting ambitions regarding Nice, doubts about the project’s economic viability, and questions about the public funds management by the GIP, a sustainable return of Formula 1 in France will require a more transparent and economically viable strategy. The Circuit Paul Ricard at Le Castellet remains the most realistic solution for now, despite reservations expressed by some industry stakeholders.