Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has all but confirmed that select European races will rotate on the F1 calendar in a recent Liberty Media investors call.
The 2024 F1 calendar stands at a record 24 rounds, a behemoth of geographical scheduling that will be mirrored next year.
Still, with F1’s popularity booming, several regions want their slice of the Grand Prix action, which risks the calendar growing even further.
To circumvent fatigue within the F1 paddock and breaching the Concorde agreed limit of 25 rounds per season, Domenicali is amid formalising plans to hold bi-annual European GPS.
“We have some news to share very, very soon with regard to the possibility in the mid-term to have some rotational European Grand Prix and some other new options coming later,” the Italian said on a Liberty investors call.
“This is something that, of course, we will clarify in the due course.
“It is true that we have a large demand of new possible venues that wants to come in and our choice will always be balanced between the right economical benefits that we can have as a system and also to leverage in the growth on the market that we can see potential that will be beneficial for us to grow even further our business.”
There are several European events with expiring contracts on the F1 calendar.
Spa-Francorchamps, Monaco, Monza, Imola, and Zandvoort have contracts up in 2025, with Baku and Barcelona running deals through 2026.
One could safely assume that Monaco and Monza, the latter a recipient of recent refurbishment, are relatively safe options to continue annually given their historical significance in F1.
With Argentina, Rwanda, South Africa, and others expressing interest in hosting F1, it remains doubtful that Spain and Italy could host two races per year moving forward.
Still, Autosport understands that Barcelona, which will be usurped by Madrid in 2026 as host of the Spanish GP, floated the idea of rotating races with Zandvoort, an idea the Dutch contingent threw out.
Domenicali happy with 24 races per year
The current Concorde Agreement, which expires at the end of next year, caps the number of GPs per year at 25.
So, in any case, the likelihood of the calendar growing significantly in the short term is slim.
But, amid a new Concorde Agreement being negotiated, Domenicali is happy with the current 24-round structure that F1 employs.
“We believe that the balance we have in terms of numbers is the right one, so 24 is the balanced number that we feel is right,” he said.
“I do believe that all the propositions that are coming on our table is just giving us the possibility to make even better choices for our future.
“So as always, we need to be balanced, knowing that we cannot follow only the pure direct financial proposition, because that is different from region to region, but it’s up to us to propose to our stakeholders the right choice.
“I think that we are in a good momentum to make sure that the strategy for the future is even stronger, and that’s why we are so confident about the fact that this will help to enhance our platform on the sport, on social and business perspective.”
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