Copenhagen lord mayor parks Formula 1 project

Danish motorsport fans’ dreams of seeing Formula 1 in the streets of Copenhagen appear to have broken down after the city’s lord mayor Frank Jensen said the project would be shelved.

Published: 24 September 2018 16:01 CEST

Copenhagen lord mayor parks Formula 1 project

Copenhagen's lord mayor Frank Jensen. Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix

Jensen has advised finance minister Kristian Jensen and entrepreneur Helge Sander, the primary backer of the project, not to take plans any further.

“I am asking for it to be stopped now. That means that I have told my colleagues in the small minority (of supporters) that I have, that this is my view. They have taken it into account,” Jensen told newspaper Politiken on Friday.

The plans to bring the event to Copenhagen, which last year saw details released of a potential track in the streets of the city, was too high-risk to continue with, Jensen said.

“I went into this positively and have openly assessed whether it would be possible to bring Formula 1 to Denmark and Copenhagen for a three-year period. As things have progressed, it has become clear that there are high expectations regarding public funding for the motor race,” he said.

“The narrow majority I had at Copenhagen City Hall supporting this project has always maintained that it must not cost the municipality money,” he continued.

The lord mayor also said he felt that the project had not had a unifying effect in the city.

Finance minister Kristian Jensen had also set requirements for the project including overall political support from the municipality, which was found to be lacking.

The plan, which was headed by former MP Sander and millionaire Lars Seier Christensen had an estimated minimum investment of 300 million kroner (40.3 million euros).

It could have seen drivers Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and company racing in Copenhagen in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

But doubt emerged earlier this year over the viability of the plan, with disagreements between the city's municipality and the government over funding.

Bonuses on the new “CopenPay” scheme include a kayak or boat tour, a vegetarian meal, a museum ticket, or an e-bicycle ride — free of charge.

Why does the city want to give away these freebies?

“It is a core task for us to make travelling sustainable. And we will only succeed if we bridge the large gap between the visitors’ desire to act sustainably and their actual behaviour”, tourism board CEO Mikkel Aaro-Hansen said.

The public’s reaction has been “overwhelmingly positive”, although some disappointed visitors “would have liked the scheme to be in place during their stay,” Copenhagen tourism office communications director Rikke Holm Petersen told news agency AFP.

Although the tourist board says it wants the scheme to change behaviour to a more eco-friendly approach, it admits the initiative alone cannot dent the environmental impact of tourism.

More than 100,000 passengers flew into Copenhagen in June, resulting in a much higher carbon footprint than bus or train travel, according to airport data.

“The environmental burden of transportation to and from Copenhagen is much more significant than that of local transportation,” said tourism website VisitCopenhagen.

“We have chosen to limit our advertising efforts to Copenhagen Airport, the central station, and within the city itself, rather than conducting marketing campaigns abroad,” Petersen said.

The tourism office will consider extending the scheme beyond the city — perhaps even abroad — if it proves successful.

“We hope to reintroduce CopenPay as a year-round, green payment experience within the economy and broaden the concept to other parts of Denmark and the rest of the world,” according to the VisitCopenhagen site.