Carey discusses his Formula 1 ‘legacy’

Jamie Woodhouse
Chase Carey

Chase Carey disuses his Formula 1 "legacy".

Former F1 boss Chase Carey believes it is up to others to determine his “legacy”, but feels his team have turned the series around.

When Liberty Media took over Formula 1 in 2017 it was Carey who took over as chairman and CEO of the Formula One Group.

But after a four-year stint, Carey has handed over his responsibilities to former Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali, with Carey now moving to a non-executive role.

2020 was a season in which Formula 1 faced challenges like nothing it had seen before, as did the world in general due to the global health pandemic, but Carey was proud to see Formula 1 complete its revised 17-race calendar and keep its brand intact and on course for future growth.

“We entered 2020 with a budget reflecting continued growth in revenue and profits,” he said, quoted by GPFans.com.

“We felt equally positive about our ability to keep this growth going into 2021 and 2022. 2020 was a unique year but it has interrupted, not altered, our growth curve for the future and going into next year we think the sport has a strong platform to continue to grow.

“We have made strides forward since we took over in 2017, but our most exciting growth is ahead of us and I think Stefano will do a fantastic job and take the business forward from the strong foundations we have put in place.”

Sergio Perez, Max Verstappen
Sergio Perez, Max Verstappen

Speaking of those foundations, while Carey believes any “legacy” he leaves would have to be decided by others, he highlighted the ways in which he and his team have developed Formula 1’s “skeletal” business model that they inherited.

“I think it is always for others to assess and write legacies,” he said.

“But I think collectively we have built a sport that is stronger, has a more sustainable business model for us and the teams and more focused on our fans than ever in its history.

“We have said before when we took over Formula 1 in 2017 we inherited a skeletal organisation that lacked structure and vision. It had no social media, marketing activity, brand-building operation and it rarely engaged with the fans.

“Since 2017 we have enacted a plan to grow this incredible global sport in the way it deserved.

“That plan was built on improving the competition and action on the track, upgrading events to true spectacles, aggressively developing digital media capabilities while upgrading our traditional broadcast for fans, exploiting growth opportunities both geographically and expanding our brand, and improving the business model for Formula 1 and its teams to strengthen existing partners and attract the right new partners.”

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