Beijing, March 17 (IANS) Williams driver Alex Albon says plans for a Formula 1 race in Thailand are well advanced, but there is uncertainty following the change in government. London-born Albon, who races under the Thai flag, has been involved in discussions around a potential Thai Grand Prix around the streets of the capital, Bangkok, including meetings with senior officials and the Sports Authority of Thailand.

“I’ve had a few meetings with the now ex-prime minister,” Albon told Xinhua during the Chinese Grand Prix weekend. “The Sports Authority of Thailand is a big part of getting this underway, and there’s a huge Thai tourism incentive as well.”

Under former Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Thailand had shown interest in bringing F1 to the country as part of a broader push to boost high-value tourism and global visibility. However, Paetongtarn was removed from her position in August 2025.

Albon indicated that much of the groundwork has already been completed, but that final approval will depend on political clarity. “I’ve been involved in a lot of the talks around the Thai GP,” he said. “At the moment, there are quite a lot of government changes, and we just have to wait for it all to settle down.”

“But the plan is there, and they’ve done a lot of the heavy lifting. Now it’s more about the final green button.”

It also remains unclear how a Thai Grand Prix would be funded. While the involvement of the Sports Authority suggests a degree of state backing, the scale of F1 hosting fees means any bid would likely require a combination of public funding, private investment, and commercial partnerships.

It had previously been reported that the Paetongtarn administration had allocated a budget of over 40 billion baht (1.23 billion U.S. dollars) to the project, according to government officials. The intention had been for the event to be funded by the private sector, with government money there as a back-up.

Albon pointed to the tourism potential of a race, particularly if staged in Bangkok, as a key part of the proposal. “I see it as an amazing opportunity,” he said. “I’d love to be able to introduce people to Thailand, especially because they are targeting it towards a different style of tourism, not just what you might call backpacker tourism.”

“It’s a different side of things, and I think Thailand, and Bangkok especially, with the hotels and everything, is a smart place to do it.”

Albon is Thailand’s first F1 driver since the 1950s, and he said Thai interest in the sport had grown beyond a niche audience since his debut in 2019. “It’s grown every year, exponentially,” he said. “Especially in the beginning, it was more the people who were already into motorsport, which you could argue was a small percentage of the country.”

“Before [the Australian Grand Prix, on March 8], I spent a few days in Bangkok, and it’s great to see the general public getting more involved and enjoying it more.”

He added that visibility remains a barrier, with F1 not currently on free-to-air platforms in Thailand, but said broader interest in motorsport is increasing, helped by events such as MotoGP.

“It’s not as accessible as it is everywhere else. It is behind a pay-per-view system, and I’d love it to be a bit more attainable for everyone,” he said. “But that being said, I feel like Thailand itself is pushing more and more towards motorsport. MotoGP is happening over there as well, and there is a bug. If you’ve been to Thailand, you’ll know people enjoy their cars.”

Asked what it would mean to race at a home grand prix, Albon placed the prospect among his career ambitions. “If you take away my general ambitions in life, scoring my first podium with Williams, becoming a race winner, and becoming a world champion, having a Thai GP in F1 would be up there as well,” he said. “So it would mean a lot.”

–IANS

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