75th Anniversary of Formula 1

Lord Goddard of Stockport Excerpts

Thursday 12th December 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

My Lords, I was born in 1979, so that would be a challenge. I thank and celebrate the noble Lord for his work with grands prix and for ensuring, with his work then, that grands prix have been such an incredible success story, both here and internationally. I am more than happy to work with the noble Lord and I will go back to the department and ensure that he is involved in the conversations the department has about celebrating the grands prix going forward.

[Lord Goddard of Stockport (LD)]

My Lords, the F1 generates hundreds of millions of pounds for the British economy and turns over £2 billion a year. It is a fantastic success. Can I ask the Minister to consider two things? First, could she press for the Silverstone Grand Prix in 2025 to be made free to air to maximise the British public’s chance to watch that grand prix live and not have to pay? Secondly, could she consider supporting the Racing Steps Foundation to bring young aspiring boys and girls into the motor industry? It receives no funding whatever at the moment. Would she consider a 75-year anniversary celebration scholarship to bring more boys and girls into the industry and—you never know—perhaps create another world champion?

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

My Lords, I would be more than happy to meet the Racing Steps Foundation charity to discuss options or arrange for the Minister for Sport to meet them. In terms of celebrating the role of Silverstone, the grand prix and the issue of free-to-air racing, I fell in love with grand prix racing because it was free to air. There are conversations to be had about making sure that significant moments in British sport can be accessed. However, obviously there is currently a commercial agreement in which Channel 4 gets the highlights—which I, like others, watched of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the weekend.