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Plans are in the works to stage a Formula One Thai Grand Prix as a night race in Bangkok, beginning in 2015.
Kanokphand Chulakasem, the governor of the Sports Authority of Thailand, told local media: “The Formula One race is likely to take place here in early 2015, instead of 2014 in our original plan. We are negotiating this and I am not in a position to talk about it in detail.” Earlier, F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone had told The Wall Street Journal, "It's serious, and it's good. They say 2014, and I say 2015…”
The main driving force behind this new Grand Prix is Red Bull, the world's best-selling energy drinks brand, which has been co-owned since its creation in 1987 by Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz and Thai businessman Chalerm Yoovidhya.
It is understood that 40 percent of the annual costs of the Grand Prix will be met by Red Bull and by the Singha beer brand, which were the two prime sponsors of the annual The Race of Champions event when it was held earlier this month in the 50,000-seat Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok. The remaining 60 percent will come from the national government and the city administration.
In 2010, to mark the king's birthday, Red Bull Racing put on a Formula One demonstration on closed streets around the Democracy Monument on Rajadamnoen Avenue that was watched by an estimated 150,000 people. The same area of the city is expected to be used for the night race in 2015.
The addition of a race in Thailand would likely mean the elimination of a race currently on the schedule.
Russia and New Jersey will be added to the calendar in 2014, while Red Bull has also been in talks with Ecclestone about staging an Austrian Grand Prix on its own road circuit near Zeltweg. As things stand, the Thai Grand Prix would be the third Formula One race in Southeast Asia, alongside those in Malaysia and Singapore, which currently hosts the only street race to be held under lights.
Way back in 1939, Thailand (then known as Siam) came close to staging a Grand Prix when Prince Birabongse Bhanudej, an active race driver, arranged an event around the Grand Palace in Bangkok, but it was canceled due to the outbreak of World War II.
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