Stefano Domenicali: ‘F1 can drive real change – we are not chasing money’

W ith Formula One ready to go racing again in Bahrain this week it will be a grand season premiere once more accompanied by a chorus of controversy over a host country criticised for its human rights record. It is a refrain that echoes across the sport’s expansion in the Middle East but one that F1’s CEO, Stefano Domenicali, is to his credit unafraid of debating. Indeed, the Italian insists he is proud of what F1 is achieving by wielding what he describes as its soft power.

Sitting in F1’s offices in St James’s Market in London rather than hiding behind the PR homilies that were so often the response before he took over in 2021, Domenicali has welcomed the chance to put his case for taking his sport to Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

In a conversation that ranged across difficult issues often uncomfortable for the sport, Domenicali did not shirk any subject. It was a refreshing and ultimately instructive approach because, while one may question his arguments, it is hard to doubt the sincerity of the Italian’s belief that racing really is about more than money, that F1 can make a difference and that it will do, as he puts it, the right thing.

“I love taking these challenges on because from a personal perspective I can try to shape what I think is right,” he says. “To open up the discussion on issues in these places. I take pride in it. I know it is easy to criticise me but I have no fear because with soft power, I believe in the right context, in the right way, I can achieve results.”

Domenicali makes repeated reference to his belief in his sport’s ability to wield soft power in working to engender change but what does this somewhat nebulous phrase actually mean in the context of F1? His answer is telling on