‘We deserve better’: Supercars weighing up future at F1 Grand Prix after series’ demotion

Supercars teams have been bumped from pit lane at this year’s F1 Grand Prix in Melbourne. REBECCA WILLIAMS unpacks the series’ demotion and its future at Australia’s showpiece motorsport event.

Supercars chief executive Shane Howard says the category’s conditions at the Australian Formula One Grand Prix need to be addressed to ensure its future at the event as team owner Ryan Walkinshaw hit out at the V8 show’s treatment and said “we deserve better”.

A longtime staple on the support card for the race at Albert Park, Supercars has found itself bumped down the pecking order following the addition of F1’s own feeder categories F2 and F3 to the event’s schedule.

F1’s junior classes made their debut at Albert Park last year and the Supercars field has this year lost its position in Albert Park’s second pit lane to the F2 championship.

Supercars teams will this year operate out of tents in the paddock behind the second pit lane and their transporters – used to house equipment, for driver preparation and team debriefs – will be parked in the Village Green area.

The move from the pit lane means there will be no pit stops during the Supercars sprints, which are restricted to two 20-lap races and two 14-lap ones.

In another blow to the series, the area in which the Supercars teams will operate will be restricted access and not open to general admission and the category’s fans.

Supercars CEO Shane Howard.

After its previous arrangement with the Australian Grand Prix Corporation ended last year, Supercars signed a one-year agreement to race at the 2024 event.

Howard considered it important for the series to feature on the support card at Australia’s showpiece motorsport event and said the category wanted to be back in 2025.

However, he said the accommodation for Supercars – and access for its fans – at Albert Park needed to be addressed.

“This year will be a big change for us and we are working through that with the Australian Grand Prix Corporation,” Howard said.

“We would like to be in the pit lane ... but we acknowledge that Formula Two is Formula One’s primary support.

“I understand their process in regard to it not being a general admission area because when you are trying to move race cars and lots of people in that area, it’s a recipe for a problem.

Supercars have become a staple at the F1 Grand Prix. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

“But we have been working very closely with (AGPC chief executive) Travis Auld and his team and Travis has made it very clear that he wants us there and he will look to try and do everything we can to improve what we have so we can put on a good show.

“But we need to rectify this situation with the fans. It is very important for our fans to be able to get access to our drivers and our teams. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to fix it this year but we are going to work together and see if we can fix this (for the future).”

Asked if he could guarantee Supercars’ future at the event if the conditions could not be improved to the satisfaction of the series, Howard said the category would make a “calculated decision” following an evaluation after the event.

“We want to be back but we will need to address those areas,” Howard said.

“We’ll need to work with the corporation to deliver on everybody’s expectations, be that our own being a championship round, being in a remote paddock and giving the fans what they want – good racing and access to our category.

“We will need to sit down together and just see what we can do and then once we have debriefed with everybody then we can make a calculated decision.

“It’s a world-class event and we want to be part of it but, as I have said, it has to work for everybody.”

Having long held a key place on the F1 undercard, Supercars has raced for championship points at Albert Park since 2018.

Ryan Walkinshaw has been left frustrated by the current arrangement with F1. Picture: Tim Hunter.

Walkinshaw, co-owner of Walkinshaw Andretti United, was less measured about the series’ treatment.

He said the category deserved better after being a longtime staple at the event.

“I do think it’s important (to be there) and I won’t pretend that I am not frustrated by the way I feel Supercars have been treated,” Walkinshaw said.

“We have been a staple of that event for a long time, the fans love us, the corporate partners that we have see it as a really important event and we do an enormous event of partner activations both on track and off track during the course of the F1 week, especially for my team with having Zak (Brown) in town from McLaren. It’s hugely important to us.

“It is frustrating when you see we are getting these races at unusual times and they are very, very short. I think we deserve better.

“I think we add an enormous amount of value to the event.”

Supercars will feature across all four days of the event at Albert Park and hit the track for practice, qualifying and the first race of the Melbourne Supersprint on Thursday. The opening race starts at 5.55pm.

The 2025 F1 calendar also potentially has ramifications for Supercars and where it will open its own season.

Next year’s F1 season is tipped to begin in Melbourne, as was announced when Albert Park’s contract extension was confirmed in 2022, which could mean an early-season squeeze for Supercars, which also runs the Bathurst 12 Hour in February.

“We will need to know from Formula One when their date is so then we can start laying down the foundations (for our calendar),” Howard said.

“First of all, we will see where the Australian Grand Prix is going to be and then look at the options from there.

“I have some ideas of when it may be but I don’t have any firm advice on it as yet.

“I don’t like going too early ... a lot of corporates and businesses don’t come back until almost Australia Day and you have to make sure you are in temperatures that can accommodate it.”

Originally published as ‘We deserve better’: Supercars weighing up future at F1 Grand Prix after series’ demotion