Premier reveals SA push for Middle East F1 events
Premier Peter Malinauskas confirmed he hopped on the phone with the CEO of Formula 1 to try and nab one of two cancelled Grand Prix races, saying, “you’ve got to be in it to win it”.
Premier Peter Malinauskas pushed for South Australia to host Formula 1 races in Adelaide after conflict in the Middle East kicked off.
But he was not successful, with the two Grand Prix events at Bahrain and Saudi Arabia both officially cancelled earlier this week.
“When the war in Iran broke out and we saw the events that were unfolding, it struck me as pretty obvious that that would represent a major challenge for F1 to race their scheduled events in Bahrain and Saudia Arabia,” the Premier told reporters this morning.
“So I hit the phone with Stefano,” he said, referring to F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali.
He told Triple M this morning: “You’ve got to be in it to win it”.
But the Premier was unsuccessful, with F1 this week confirming the two Grand Prix events would be cancelled.
The two races were scheduled to take place in April, but F1 confirmed that after “careful evaluations”, the “ongoing situation in the Middle East region” made the events untenable.
“While several alternatives were considered, it was ultimately decided that no substitutions will be made in April,” F1 said.
Domenicali said it was a “difficult decision to take”.
“It is unfortunately the right one at this stage, considering the current situation in the Middle East,” Domenicali said.
It comes as registrations for interest in tickets for the 2027 MotoGP Grand Prix of Australia, to be held on a city circuit in Adelaide, open today.
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Registered South Australians will be the first to know when tickets go on sale.
The Labor party also announced today it would issue 500 limited-edition MotoGP licence plates if re-elected.
The black plates will be put up for auction, reminiscent of the original 199 black Adelaide Grand Prix plates released in 1985 to commemorate the first F1 Adelaide Grand Prix.
SA secured the MotoGP from Victoria last month – a coup that former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett, who pinched the F1 Grand Prix from SA in the ‘90s, said was “straight from the Jeff Kennett Bible”.
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