Formula 1 has warned that the Government risks jeopardising the British Grand Prix and harming the nation’s soft power by failing to act swiftly on visa issues. The Home Office has been accused of being slow to adapt its visa requirements to accommodate the hundreds of Formula 1 workers who travel the full racing calendar.
These delays have forced staff to seek special permissions simply to enter the UK. While comparable problems were resolved swiftly in the United States, Britain now risks tarnishing its reputation as a world-class host of major sporting events, according to F1. In written evidence submitted to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport Committee by Formula 1, seen by City AM, the racing series warns that “strict rules, especially post-Brexit, can lead to significant delays in getting hundreds of personnel into the country, increasing costs and putting the successful delivery of the Grand Prix in jeopardy each and every year.”
The organisation further cautioned that visa complications risk “undermining the soft power impact of the UK’s status as a host country for major sporting and cultural events.” During a committee hearing at Portcullis House on Tuesday, chair Caroline Dinenage MP raised the matter directly with the DCMS’s director for major sporting projects delivery, Michael Livingston.
She said: “We went to visit the F1 HQ and they said that when it comes to visas those that the Home Office may regard as having lower end skills and therefore not prioritised for visas, actually in sectors like F1, those skills are particularly niche and are needed to be given weight and not put to the back of the pile.”
Livingston replied: “We are aware of some of those cases. With F1 it relates to those supporting hospitality.
“I am aware of cases showing up previously but we will always work with F1 to cut through those issues. We ultimately need to work within the visa regime the government has in place.” The British Grand Prix is regarded as one of the jewels in the Formula 1 calendar, drawing 500,000 visitors over the July weekend.
Central to this are paddock security and broader hospitality contracts, handled by European firms engaged by Formula 1 for all races. These staff are unable to obtain short-term visas owing to the nature of their specialist yet low-skilled roles. “In our experience of hosting Grands Prix across the globe,” the written submission added.
“The UK is unique in its slow pace of responsiveness to regulatory issues such as this. In many other countries, including the United States, these seemingly small procedural issues have been resolved quickly once flagged with relevant officials in the administration.”