Just a few points of note
@Tom B
The British GP, when at Silverstone, used to be held on a Saturday right up until the early 1980s. That was because the locals (Stowe, iirc) didn't want their church services disturbed by the noise.
Grand Prix / single seater racing, even before F1 became a "thing" has always been associated with the socialite strata of society. Don't forget that the slogan for Brooklands was "The Right Crowd and no Crowding" and that Monaco, since its first race, was always the place to see and be seen. Also, a lot of early racing drivers were aristocrats, namely because they had the money and the time on their hands to dabble in what was then, a fairly exclusive hobby.
And certainly since the mid 1960s, F1 has been dependent on money from various (and often) less savoury sources. OK, somewhat dependent on your viewpoint, but you start out with tobacco sponsorship in lieu of private patronage thanks to Colin Chapman, and even after overt tobacco advertising was banned, the big ones like Phillip Morris were still funnelling money in on the QT. Then you've got sponsors like Moneytron (remember them?) who generated funds with what was effectively a Ponzi Scheme. Oh, Essex Petroleum - which was all about oil futures was another one. And now it's all about Saudi and American money. But because the sport has become so expensive, people are willing to turn a blind eye somewhat.
To put this all into perspective, back in 1991, a full season of International F3000 (the then-equivalent of FIA F2) in a competitive car would have set you back a cool £750,000*. And it's only gotten far more spendy in the intervening three and a bit decades as technology has advanced.
* Racefest 1991 meeting programme, Brands Hatch, 29th & 30th June 1991
