Hong Kong should focus on developing a greater motorsports culture before bidding to host a Formula 1 race, a top official from the sport's governing body has told the South China Morning Post.
Speaking on the sidelines of the annual conference of the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in Macau, Valerio Iachizzi suggested that focusing on karting and esports would be a better use of time and resources.
For Iachizzi, who as the governing body's secretary general for sport has responsibility for its 149 member clubs and community organisations, "enlarging the base of the pyramid" was the primary goal, with events marking the pinnacle of motorsport coming afterwards.
But with Bangkok on track to join an F1 calendar that already includes Shanghai and Singapore, there has been renewed interest in getting Hong Kong on the circuit.
Iachizzi said he had spoken to Peter Goh, the CEO of the Hong Kong China Automobile Association (HKAA), and been told the government was "pushing to get Formula 1".
Officials, though, would still have to convince the governing body, and find the billions of dollars needed to host an event.
On Tuesday, Thailand's cabinet approved a 40 billion baht bid to host a street race in the nation's capital for at least five years from 2028. A government statement estimated it could drive 16 billion baht in tourism-related spending a year and create 8,000 full and part-time jobs.
"I [told Peter] I don't want to talk about Formula 1, because the point here is my role is to support you, but also to give you some advice, and maybe it can be interesting to build up a proper pyramid instead of doing that upside down," Ichazzi said.
"It is important to engage local communities, to get more support, to develop the youngest, to grow in that way, then you will get Formula 1 one day. I always think it's important to invest in grass roots, in young talent, in building up a proper motorsport ecosystem."
At the same conference at the Galaxy International Convention Centre, Goh told a panel on communication, collaboration and regional empowerment that his association was working to develop electric karting and expanding esports initiatives.
But he also stressed the importance of working with neighbouring cities, pointing to a lack of racing infrastructure in Hong Kong, with drivers needing to use circuits in Zhuhai and Guangzhou to build their skills.
Iachizzi, though, said karting did not necessarily need a lot of space, with "a parking lot" sufficient for racing.
The Italian was also keen to point out that there were other means of developing a motorsport culture, with the FIA's engineering scholarship an example of that.
The 2025 recipient, Sanya Jain, will study a fully funded MSc in advanced motorsports engineering at Cranfield University, in England, having finished her undergraduate degree in mechatronics engineering at the University of Waterloo in Canada.
"It's not so complicated to organise a motorsports event," Iachizzi said. "You don't need a circuit to do motorsports, it's not a circuit or nothing - you can work in motorsports [too]."
Speaking on the sidelines of the annual conference of the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in Macau, Valerio Iachizzi suggested that focusing on karting and esports would be a better use of time and resources.
For Iachizzi, who as the governing body's secretary general for sport has responsibility for its 149 member clubs and community organisations, "enlarging the base of the pyramid" was the primary goal, with events marking the pinnacle of motorsport coming afterwards.
But with Bangkok on track to join an F1 calendar that already includes Shanghai and Singapore, there has been renewed interest in getting Hong Kong on the circuit.
Iachizzi said he had spoken to Peter Goh, the CEO of the Hong Kong China Automobile Association (HKAA), and been told the government was "pushing to get Formula 1".
Officials, though, would still have to convince the governing body, and find the billions of dollars needed to host an event.
On Tuesday, Thailand's cabinet approved a 40 billion baht bid to host a street race in the nation's capital for at least five years from 2028. A government statement estimated it could drive 16 billion baht in tourism-related spending a year and create 8,000 full and part-time jobs.
"I [told Peter] I don't want to talk about Formula 1, because the point here is my role is to support you, but also to give you some advice, and maybe it can be interesting to build up a proper pyramid instead of doing that upside down," Ichazzi said.
"It is important to engage local communities, to get more support, to develop the youngest, to grow in that way, then you will get Formula 1 one day. I always think it's important to invest in grass roots, in young talent, in building up a proper motorsport ecosystem."
At the same conference at the Galaxy International Convention Centre, Goh told a panel on communication, collaboration and regional empowerment that his association was working to develop electric karting and expanding esports initiatives.
But he also stressed the importance of working with neighbouring cities, pointing to a lack of racing infrastructure in Hong Kong, with drivers needing to use circuits in Zhuhai and Guangzhou to build their skills.
Iachizzi, though, said karting did not necessarily need a lot of space, with "a parking lot" sufficient for racing.
The Italian was also keen to point out that there were other means of developing a motorsport culture, with the FIA's engineering scholarship an example of that.
The 2025 recipient, Sanya Jain, will study a fully funded MSc in advanced motorsports engineering at Cranfield University, in England, having finished her undergraduate degree in mechatronics engineering at the University of Waterloo in Canada.
"It's not so complicated to organise a motorsports event," Iachizzi said. "You don't need a circuit to do motorsports, it's not a circuit or nothing - you can work in motorsports [too]."
