Formula 1 has agreed a new deal with the Belgian Grand Prix which will keep the race on the schedule until 2031.
However the race will only take place every other year after 2027.The new deal means the Belgian Grand Prix will be held in four of the six seasons after this year. F1 will visit Spa in 2026, 2027, 2029 and 2031.
A statement issued by Formula 1 gave no explanation why no race will take place in 2028 and 2030. However Formula One Management has long indicated it could rotate races between European venues due to the competition for slots on future calendars.
Spa has held 57 rounds of the world championship, including one during its inaugural year. The high-speed circuit in the Ardennes, which is a favourite of many drivers, has only been left off the calendar twice in the last 40 years. The race attracted a total of 380,000 fans over three days last year.
“Spa-Francorchamps is rightly lauded by drivers and fans alike as one of the finest race tracks in the world and it has played host to some incredible moments over its many seasons in Formula 1,” said Formula One Management CEO Stefano Domenicali.
“In recent years it has undergone significant work to improve the facility and overall fan experience, and I would like to pay tribute to the promoter and the government of Wallonia for their dedication and passionate support for Formula 1 in Belgium.”
F1 increased its calendar to a record 24 rounds last year and will hold the same number this season. The Belgian Grand Prix, which will be a sprint event, takes place on July 27th.
The competition for places on future calendars increased after F1 revealed a deal to hold a new race on a street track in Madrid from next year. However it subsequently announced the Dutch Grand Prix will disappear from its schedule after 2026.
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PeteB (@peteb)
8th January 2025, 9:55
Feels like a compromise to get fans used to the idea of Spa not being on the calendar so they can get rid it of completely. Enjoy this great track whilst you still can because it’s clearly getting replaced with another street track or race around a desert in the next few years.
anon
8th January 2025, 12:08
It’s the circuit owners that wanted this deal, and they’ve been trying to set up this deal for over a decade now.
You can find reports from 2012 when they tried and failed to set up a similar deal with Paul Ricard as part of an attempt to revive the French GP, then they tried to set up a sharing deal with the German GP around 2018, which also failed. Ever since the Dutch GP returned in 2021, they’ve been trying to persuade Zandvoort to alternate races with them, but that was also rejected.
El Pollo Loco
9th January 2025, 0:07
Only because they can’t afford it and FOM won’t compromise when there are plenty of dictators with reputations to launder.
Next they’ll be telling us Brazil is every other year (though I think the race was actually renewed for a five year period not too long ago).
HAL
8th January 2025, 12:14
Could be so, but I feel you are taking the pessimistic view here.
Most classic European track are struggling to keep the financial balance. It’s definitively the case for Spa…. So this could also be a good solution to keep the track in F1 but decreasing the burden for local organiser (for Spa, the local region is supporting the GP).
And of course LB is happy to bave a few more slots for new venues…
MacLeod (@macleod)
8th January 2025, 13:40
Zandvoort did the whole thing Private but they calculated without support of the goverment they would making an loss if the people doesn’t soldout. So they stop before that happens. So with which circuit they will rotate?
El Pollo Loco
9th January 2025, 0:13
They’ll rotate with Guyana likely. After all, they’ve now got by far the biggest per capita production of hydrocarbons. Don’t worry, the track will be great. A big square circuit running through its historic capital of Georgetown (I’m assuming named after George Russell).
Jim
8th January 2025, 15:00
Unfortunately I agree with your pessimistic view for Spa-Francorchamps future – please F1 dump Monaco instead – the most boring race on the calendar
PS as for the rain I have watched superbikes ride the course for 24hours in the pouring rain – if they can do it……….
scss (@scss)
9th January 2025, 2:41
I realize that Spa has been trying to work an every other year deal for some time. With that said, from Liberty’s perspective it’s great because they can put two European circuits in a single date box.
I had great hopes for Liberty taking Formula 1 to new heights and of course they have certainly done that. Now I have to ask, “At what price?”.
It seems to me that “price” translates to pure greed.
My wife and I attended the U.S. Grand Prix at Las Vegas in 1982. The “parking lot circuit” really wasn’t bad. We had the best seats in the house at $100 each ($320, or 260 British Pounds in 2024 currency). We also had access to the Garage and watched the teams working on the cars. At the USGP at Long Beach in ’82 and ‘83, the tickets for the best seats (including walking at leisure through the garage) were less than 40% of the Vegas tickets.
This year a Vegas general admission ticket was $500 for the worst seats in the house and no, we didn’t and won’t go. If I want to be robbed, I can just walk through a bad neighborhood in my own town.
I said all that to say this: The only reason Liberty Media isn’t selling their soul is because they don’t have one. They allowed an 11th entry only after realizing the U.S. Federal Trade Commission was serious and about to come after them – saving face by negotiating a deal to drop the Andretti name and spinning up a celebration of Cadillac.
Two European circuits utilizing one date makes room for another crappy mega-buck race like most of the billiard table sand box circuits in the Middle East, or…
Race fans also don’t tend to be fans of racing through city streets, but Liberty “believes” this is the way to attract new fans.
If you want to promote your product, you capitalize on its strong points. You don’t promote thoroughbred horses by having them herd sheep in a corral. You give them a place where they can stretch their legs and run like the wind. If you’re Liberty, you promote European circuits as hallowed (because they are) and you help organizers to convey to the new fans how incredible the circuit is – steeped in lore and legend; that they have the opportunity to be an integral part of it.
You help organizers to find ways to get fans to/from the circuits quickly and efficiently even if you have to spend 10% of your 20 million a year sanctioning fee to make it happen… exercising the adage; Short term pain, long term gain vs. Short term gain, long term pain.
I fear Spa is but symptomatic of what is coming. Liberty Media could invest in the race by way of ingress/egress solutions and manage to make money off of it in the long run, but it won’t. It wouldn’t match their vi$ion.
scss (@scss)
9th January 2025, 2:54
I realize that Spa has been trying to work an every other year deal for some time. With that said, from Liberty’s perspective it’s great because they can put two European circuits in a single date box.
I had great hopes for Liberty taking Formula 1 to new heights and of course they have certainly done that. Now I have to ask, “At what price?”.
It seems to me that “price” translates to pure greed.
My wife and I attended the U.S. Grand Prix at Las Vegas in 1982. The “parking lot circuit” really wasn’t bad. We had the best seats in the house at $100 each ($320, or 260 British Pounds in 2024 currency). We also had access to the Garage and watched the teams working on the cars. At the USGP at Long Beach in ’82 and ‘83, the tickets for the best seats (including walking at leisure through the garage) were less than 40% of the Vegas tickets.
This year a Vegas general admission ticket was $500 for the worst seats in the house and no, we didn’t and won’t go. If I want to be robbed, I can just walk through a bad neighborhood in my own town.
I said all that to say this: The only reason Liberty Media isn’t selling their soul is because they don’t have one. They allowed an 11th entry only after realizing the U.S. Federal Trade Commission was serious and about to come after them – saving face by negotiating a deal to drop the Andretti name and spinning up a celebration of Cadillac.
Two European circuits utilizing one date makes room for another crappy mega-buck race like most of the billiard table sand box circuits in the Middle East, or…
Race fans also don’t tend to be fans of racing through city streets, but Liberty “believes” this is the way to attract new fans.
If you want to promote your product, you capitalize on its strong points. You don’t promote thoroughbred horses by having them herd sheep in a corral. You give them a place where they can stretch their legs and run like the wind.
If Liberty were thinking it through, they’d promote European circuits as hallowed (because they are) and you help organizers convey to the new fans how incredible the circuit is – steeped in lore and legend; that they have the opportunity to be an integral part of it.
You help organizers to find ways to get fans to/from the circuits quickly and efficiently even if you have to spend 10% of your 20 million a year sanctioning fee to make it happen… exercising the adage; Short term pain, long term gain vs. Short term gain, long term pain.
I fear Spa is but symptomatic of what is coming. Liberty Media could invest in the race by way of ingress/egress solutions and manage to make money off of it in the long run, but it won’t. It wouldn’t match their vi$ion.
Davethechicken
8th January 2025, 9:56
The farce of 2021 with the fans who attended recieving no compensation, will not be forgotten by those whom went.
Definitely in my view, one of the greatest tracks on the calendar, but as it seems modern F1 simply doesn’t “do rain”, for whatever reason, it maybe no longer suitable.
El Pollo Loco
9th January 2025, 0:15
F1 went from slight risk tolerance to zero risk tolerance. A bit of a joke since they still try to sell fans on the idea that the drivers are gladiators doing something dangerous.
Le Jimster (@lejimster82)
8th January 2025, 10:12
This isn’t a good sign. The same thing happened to the German tracks and where are they now? Spa should be a permanent fixture as far as I’m concerned, it’s probably my fav track.
Jere (@jerejj)
8th January 2025, 10:33
I can understand Zandvoort preferring to host their final Dutch GP hold in the first year of a new technical regulation cycle than the last, i.e., this year.
On the other hand, Spa-Francorchamps starting the bi-annual scheme only after the 2027 season rather than any sooner is weird.
I guess the prospect of all-new locations joining for either next year or 2027 is relatively low, which frees up space for this particular European circuit to continue hosting annually for a bit longer.
However, as the rotation scheme itself is supposed to commence after this year’s campaign, at least one current circuit will automatically make way for Madrid.
Simon
8th January 2025, 17:57
Word. Salad. As. Usual.
El Pollo Loco
9th January 2025, 0:17
Will you stalk Jere for the rest of your life? It’s quite sad.
SteveP
9th January 2025, 8:57
Your secret love is no longer a secret.
Best to come out of the closet, Simone.
tielemst
9th January 2025, 17:02
Pathetic. Stalker. As. Always.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
8th January 2025, 18:30
@jerejj Belgium had a contract up to 2026, so it would have cost Liberty money to ask Belgium to drop 2026. Liberty doesn’t like paying other people money unless it can prove a benefit, and if it doesn’t have anyone lined up to do 2026 on an alternate basis yet…
MichaelN
8th January 2025, 12:01
This is a great day for F1. The Belgian race was famously not paying its fair share. Now F1 can finally extract more millions from proper hosts so the famously cash-strapped F1 paddock can finally get itself something nice for Christmas. Some old fans will no doubt complain, but who needs Spa-Francorchamps when F1 can have Qatar, Miami and China?
Ahem.
On a more serious note, I consider Spa-Francorchamps part of the must haves for any F1 season. Alongside Silverstone, Monza and, when feeling generous, Suzuka and Interlagos. I will not spend any money on F1 in seasons without these tracks. Not that they’ll care, but that’s okay!
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
8th January 2025, 18:03
I feel fans are far too wedded to old circuits purely for sentimental reasons.
Only Spa and Silverstone truly excite these days. Barcelona and Interlagos are bore fests. But if I had may, Monaco would have gone years ago.
How Istanbul remains off the calendar is anyone guess – as it’s far more entertaining that those.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
8th January 2025, 18:31
@banbrorace Turkey got priced out.
MichaelN
8th January 2025, 19:09
You’re not wrong about Monza. It could do with a Zandvoort-inspired update to make it a proper high-speed track again rather than a chicane-fest. But still, all things considered, Monza is the best Italian track and there has to be an Italian track.
I disagree with Interlagos being boring. It has been dealt a bad hand by the FIA with regards to DRS, but it’s a track where modern F1 cars can race very well.
black (@black)
8th January 2025, 21:02
@banbrorace
Interlagos is a bore fest? Interlagos???
Together with Silverstone are the two most flowing circuits we have on the calendar, where you can have a battle at every single corner and you can try many different overtaking manouvers.
Off the top of my head I can easily recall some amazing Interlagos races:
2008 Hamilton snatches the title at the last corner
2012 Vettel drops down last with a damaged car and manages to recover in the rain (I think to this day the highest rated race in this site)
2016 Verstappen masterclass in the rain
2019 An extremely chaotic race
2021 Hamilton v Verstappen
2024 Verstappen masterclass in the rain II – winning the race and the title from 17th
And that’s just the extremely good ones I can recall, even the ‘average’ ones are above average.
SteveR (@stever)
9th January 2025, 0:30
Thanks, you said it far better than I would have, but I was thinking it!
El Pollo Loco
9th January 2025, 0:45
2023: the amazing Alonso vs Checo spectacle too. There are more great Brazil races during the time span you listed. Those are just some of the easiest to remember. Basically, it’s easier to list seasons in which the race has been dull than been good or great. I think I’ve literally never seen annyone else call Interlagos dull.
El Pollo Loco
9th January 2025, 0:18
Interlagos produces more good races on average than any other track on the calendar. Not sure what you’re smoking.
SteveP
9th January 2025, 9:09
Just subtract the Verstappen referenced years from the list @black produced, and you may have a clue.
Even as a not-Max-fan I can’t go with the idea of cancelling the memories of races where he drove in an entertaining way.
BenHur
9th January 2025, 17:39
While I like the Autódromo José Carlos Pace (aka Interlagos) a lot and has produced many great races (and also the worst ever, in 2008). there is a mostly boring section between Ferradura and Mergulho (T 6-11) which is rather boring and hardly anything ever happens. Being rather in the short side with 4.3 km there is not an easy solution but I think it would improve with a straight from Laranjinha (T7) to Junção (T12) getting rid of the Pinheirinho and Bico de Pato sections. Just an opinion.
AlexS
10th January 2025, 2:55
Silverstone exciting?! It is a kart track with no soul.
uzsjgb (@uzsjgb)
8th January 2025, 13:26
This website has very good data on what tracks/races fans really like. I think all tracks below rank 20 should have a very good reason for staying on the circuit, with so many tracks provided much better racing. Spa is at 22, Suzuka is at 23. Historic nostalgia is not a very good reason to keep boring fans with these races. A rotation seems to be a good compromise.
Mike Davies (@nanotech)
8th January 2025, 13:32
Link to said ranking list? It’s not in the site menu, at least as far as I could find.
black (@black)
8th January 2025, 14:04
@nanotech
https://www.racefans.net/rate-the-race/circuit-ratings/
@uzsjgb
1) this list started in 2008, so many tracks have data for fewer than 4 races (for at least 8/21 – all the tracks above Spa), and it’s not that all of these tracks had amazing racing, they had maybe 1 decent race that got a 6-7, while Spa had 16 decent, great and not so great races and gets an average of 6.45.
2) Spa especially has a lower average than it should have because it hosted the 2021 GP that was never held and people bombed the ratings with 1 and got the lowest score in Racefans history (1.86). Nothing to do with the track, with the racing etc, it was just bad weather and bad decisions by FIA.
3) The ratings are entirely subjective. People rate with 1s and 10s if there is a controversy or if their favorite driver wins or loses often. Again, nothing to do with how great a track is. One of the highest scores was the 2011 Chinese GP (9.24), not because there was a titanic battle for the lead, or a super chaotic race in the rain with the lead changing many hands.. no it was just Pirelli’s 3rd race with these made-to-degrade tires and drivers hadn’t figured out them yet and there were many drivers falling off the ‘cliff’. Nothing to do with the quality of racing, just pure coincidence. And people even back then were saying “well maybe we overreacted a bit with that race, given that the tires getting Pirelli-ed was/is very common”.
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
8th January 2025, 22:57
The thing is too is a dull race at Suzuka or Spa is no reason to knock the track. I’d rather watch a dull race on those magnificent circuits than any race at Losail for example.
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
8th January 2025, 18:05
If people have got a problem with Spa and Suzuka, then they definitely are not F1 fans.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
8th January 2025, 19:03
@uzsjgb Very good reasons do exist. Namely, that some of the races above it aren’t available to F1.
#2 Nurburgring – current owner will not touch F1 with a bargepole after previous owner went bankrupt, partially because of chasing F1 and not considering cashflow. F1 can want it all it likes, but it’s not available.
#7 Istanbul – priced out. If F1 is too expensive for Spa, it’s definitely too expensive for Turkey (which hit its maximum some time ago). Liberty would have to change its pricing structure for Istanbul to be an option again.
(Sepang at #10 was also priced out but I think is less sensitive to price than it was at the time it left).
#11 Zandvoort – does not believe F1’s popularity will hold out long enough to sustain F1’s price tag (and has a lower maximum price point than Spa).
#13 Hockenheimring – not only priced out at an earlier point than Spa, but lost its audience to Spa and Austria.
#15 Imola – the third Italian round on the list. Only the USA gets to have three races in the same season in Liberty’s system.
#19 Korea – the track is not F1-spec any more. It literally hosts two touring car races per year. That’s not a solid base on which to get things back to F1-spec, let alone pitch for a race.
#20 Autodromo de Algarve – priced out of F1 at a lower point than Spa.
#21 Fuji – a Toyota track. Not likely to come back unless Toyota’s willing to re-enter F1 with a car or engine bearing its own name.
Season list of tracks that credibly could host Grands Prix, with cut-offs at 16 races (80s-early 1990s typical load), 20 races (maximum permitted before Liberty) and 24 races (current limit).
#1 Circuit of the Americas – #3 Nurburgring
#4 Interlagos – #5 Silverstone
#6 Mugello – #8 Bahrain
#9 Shanghai – #10 Monza
#12 Sepang – #14 Hungaroring
#16 Circuit Gilles Villenueve – #17 Las Vegas
#18 Red Bull Circuit (Austria) – #22 Spa-Francorchamps
#23 Suzuka – #24 Singapore
_16-race cut-off_
#25 Baku – #27 Monaco
#28 Circuit de Catalunya – #30 Autodromo Hermanos de Rodruigez
_20-race cut-off_
#31 Yas Marina – #32 Losail International
#37 Miami – oops, no circuit 24 available
_24-race cut-off_
(#26 Jeddah Corniche is excluded because its lack of infield circuit road clearly delays rescues, which is incompatible with a Grade 4 licence, let alone the Grade 1 licence F1 requires. #29 Paul Ricard was priced out at a lower point than Spa. #33 Sochi is excluded because of continuing sanctions, not to mention the risk of missiles reaching the area) #34 Buddh is excluded due to the current tax situation preventing F1 from going there. #35 Magny-Couers and #36 Valencia are excluded due to being priced out at a lower price point than Spa. #37 Miami should, in my opinion, be excluded for being a third race in the same country, but Liberty aren’t likely to buy that any time soon).
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
8th January 2025, 19:07
Shortly after I hit “Send”, I noticed I’d put the Nurburgring in despite having excluded it. Albert Park should be at #16, and everything from Circuit Gilles Villenueve upwards (except Circuit of the Americas) should go up one. The cut-off markers are still between the correct circuits, which means Spa is still justified by being even on a basic 16-race calendar.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
8th January 2025, 19:47
Also, the 2024 races are not yet included in the statistics. Belgium had one of its best ever races according to the ratings, scoring 8.0, which would definitely improve its score.
El Pollo Loco
9th January 2025, 0:21
Ironically, for such a poorly remembered track, South Korea produced some fantastic races. I think it’s remembered poorly because it was basically located in the middle of an industrial / cargo port site and the GP promoters fell apart and basically left the grounds unfinished.
George.be
10th January 2025, 18:07
The rating has a bias in itself: We expect Monaco to be a boring circus, so if it turns out to be half a decent race, we’re giving big points. Interlagos and Spa are just the opposite: We expect a great race, so anything mediocre gets a low score. Please remove the ’21 race from the Spa average: A race that isn’t a race should not be counted as a race.
Someone else blamed the lack of compensation on Spa’21 but forgets to mention that the FOM kept all the $’s to themselves, while they’re responsible for this farce. The Spa-organizers wanted to bring the starting hour forward 1 hour according the RTBF, if I remember correctly, but the FOM-computer said no. They could’ve started with a half dry track, and probably have reached the race distance before the track became too wet…
I’m afraid the upkeep (2 years of wear & tear, add half the current FOM induced costs) of the racetrack will become too expensive compared to the returns (only half the income generated in the region), so the cost of a race will only go up.
Leksa (@leksa)
8th January 2025, 14:07
Disgrace. Obviously the Middle East rounds will never be rotated or dropped, because of $$$.
Bertie
8th January 2025, 14:56
Spa is what I imagine as a first association when I even think about ‘racing’. F1 or otherwise, it is the track I most want to watch. Damn shame. No flat ugly parking lot snoozefest will get rotated I’m sure.
Mark Thomson (@melthom)
8th January 2025, 15:01
Liberal Media is slowly beginning the “anti-Eurofication” of F1. Who’s next to go?
BenjaminS (@benihana)
8th January 2025, 16:04
Much like Ferrari making F1, well F1 Spa as well as Monza, Silverstone and the old Nurburgring are also what make F1, well F1. If Domi and his group start to unravel the calendar of these great tracks then it will no longer be F1. Things change, it is life, but unless F1 starts to think along the lines of fans of the sport and not business folks wanting to make as much money as possible I can’t see F1 being F1 or even existing in 5 years. Just my opinion of course.
Alan S Thomson
8th January 2025, 17:36
Oh shut up.
Alan S Thomson
8th January 2025, 17:36
Yes it is your opinion and i’ll thank you to keep it to yourself, ben
El Pollo Loco
9th January 2025, 0:22
Are you having a seizure?
BenjaminS (@benihana)
11th January 2025, 0:05
Why such a heavy handed negative reaction? You got some issues?
Edvaldo
8th January 2025, 16:22
To be replaced by another night race on a new expensive track in a country without any tradition or fans, of course.
Robert Williams (@weiliwen)
8th January 2025, 16:48
Wow, utter baloney to eliminate, even partially, the most favorite course in F1. I agree, some Gulf state will end up with that spot in the calendar. Let’s see, Kuwait still doesn’t have a race, does it?
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
8th January 2025, 17:05
What will it alternate with? A race on the way out, rather than one on the way in. Barcelona’s my guess. Nobody’s going to launch a new event with a race every other year.
UNeedAFinn2Win (@uneedafinn2win)
8th January 2025, 17:47
So, there’s no F1 WDC & WCC in 28, 30
Thanks for the heads up
Jon
8th January 2025, 18:09
Can we have series set with V8 and 16 races and the calendar from 1990 will fo
El Pollo Loco
9th January 2025, 0:24
No. F1 is about heavy, silent cars racing around almost solely semi-street circuits with zero risk tolerance to boot. What a spectacle! Truly the pinnacle of motorsport…
Leo B
8th January 2025, 18:26
F1 without Spa is like America without New York. Somebody needs to be a little creative about how costs can be met.
Bernie’s old way of doing things, like it or not, delivered: though success largely depended on his own negotiating skills. The current regime need to think beyond their all consuming obsession with the American golden egg, as F1 in the US has no guarantees for long term survival.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
8th January 2025, 19:08
Spa didn’t always make the cut under Bernie’s system either.
anon
8th January 2025, 20:28
Leo B, you are praising the same Bernie Ecclestone who drove the previous owners of the Spa circuit into bankruptcy due to the fees that he was demanding, which resulted in the Belgian Grand Prix temporarily dropping off the calendar? If it hadn’t been for the local government of Wallonia effectively nationalising the circuit, the Belgian GP would have been permanently gone from the calendar thanks to Bernie.
Bernie was notorious for demanding heavy hosting fees from circuits and being the one who drove much of the expansion into the Middle East that people complain about – he wasn’t any better, he was just what people were used to in the past.
some racing fan
10th January 2025, 7:23
You can thank Bernie’s employers CVC back then for that.
Win7Golf (@win7golf)
8th January 2025, 22:06
Let’s hope in the years without SPA, we will have an European GP and not another Arabian or American one…
Bring back Hockenheim or Portimão. Nice tracks & nice races!
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
8th January 2025, 22:52
This sounds like good news but I fully expect it to die a slow and painful death like both venues of the German Grand Prix did once they started rotating. I really hope I’m wrong. F1 without the Belgian Grand Prix would be a travesty.
lynn-m
8th January 2025, 23:14
So I guess we will lose Spa in 2028/30 in favour of some utterly atrocious street circuit.
The fan/driver favourite classics should be locked in and it’s the awful, boring, soul-less, characterless modern car park circuits which should be rotated.
But then we all know that this is all about money and all about guaranteeing a place only for the circuits that have government funding that are able to line the pockets of Liberty media and the other mafia bosses known as modern F1 team owners.
F1 is a sport no more!
Josh (@canadianjosh)
9th January 2025, 0:15
Spa is an old track but still a great one that should be on the calendar every year. Maybe if they added miles of sand and only men in the stands wearing dresses it could stay but unfortunately it’s in Europe and not some trillionaires backyard slaughterhouse in the Middle East.
SteveP
9th January 2025, 9:27
As Lewis said back in 2020 as an explanation of why F1 was doing something it obviously should not, “Cash is King”
rpla
9th January 2025, 0:26
lynn-m, F1 has been making odd choices with its regulations and circuit selection for several decades now. And its current path isn’t particularly encouraging. From the top-tier single seaters, Super Formula doesn’t suffer such issues with their racetracks and is still organized as a professional sport.
SF circuits are fast and technical, challenging for the drivers and with big elevation changes. Suzuka and Fuji are well known, and the latter even though a Tilke redesign is actually not that bad and encourages great racing. Autopolis and Sugo are little known jewels, etched on top of mountain ranges. All places with a lot of soul. Motegi might be the one holdout, with a compromised design from the start due to its being built alongside an oval. The mooted expansion overseas to South Korea at the Inje circuit for next year is another good layout located in the mountains. SF has access to great Grade 2 circuits unavailable to F1. And as an added bonus, no ovals.
Plus in addition to classic old-school tracks, many SF regulations are actually sound and still aim for what top-level single seaters should strive for. So no DRS (but instead a P2P that increases fuel-flow to the engine, so no heavy batteries), penalties taking into account the severity of the incidents (including drive-throughs galore as needed), honest racing, with minimal manipulation of results (“team orders”). And no outright cheating (thinking about you RB). No acres of run-off and no carparks or street circuits. Small tires that don’t explode and that drivers can actually push on. Overall smart regulations that actually make sense.
Tomcat173 (@tomcat173)
9th January 2025, 3:52
These decisions seem to be made by FOM, so the commercial considerations just dominate where the sport ends up. You presume that the American owners care less about maintaining the nostalgia/DNA of the sport by retaining classic circuits.. and are more concerned about the financial upside of replacing the Belgain GP with a more lucrative race, in a new/bigger market.
We’d all like Spa to stay on the calendar, but it’s hard to say whether its truly a negative thing. If it safeguards the viability of the Belgian GP (and maybe another European race) long term, makes it more financially viable for the promoter, then it could be a good thing.
Dane
9th January 2025, 6:00
Brilliant move! Now Liberty can finally get a date for the Gaza Grand Prix. Who wants to watch classic circuits beloved by fans and drivers for decades anyway?
Rob (@sundiesel)
10th January 2025, 4:51
Well said Dane
Frank
9th January 2025, 8:08
Given the amount of tracks available and the spreading of the fans worldwide, I have no problem with the idea of having rotating tracks.
Spa seems like a track that you could keep permanently but maybe that view is a bit outdated. In the 90s, Spa was almost the only track that would guarantee a spectacle. The downforce levels of modern cars seem to make Spa much less of a challenge for a driver. Combine that with an inability of the cars to process rain and the argument for a must-have race in Spa becomes shaky.
If a rotation is financially viable for Spa and if we can keep the calendar from exploding without having to toss out tracks alltogether, then I am in favour
Sam
9th January 2025, 8:37
If we were back to 16 races a year then okay, some rotations might be acceptable if it helped get quality circuits on the calendar. But we have 24 races and what is generally considered the best circuit in the world is having to be rotated. If Spa cannot afford the fees then lower the fees.
Anyway, things change. Maybe a new fan who started watching in say 2021 will remain a fan for 30 years and gain the same level of enjoyment from F1 that I did since the mid 90s. Maybe F1 is no worse today, but it is not the F1 I want to see (too many races, too many bad circuits and DRS). Suffice to say I focus more on other series these days than F1 and here is another reason to move away from F1.
some racing fan
10th January 2025, 7:25
16 races is too few these days. There isn’t nearly as much to talk about because the regs are much tighter and it’s all about the little things. 20 would be ideal
Rob (@sundiesel)
10th January 2025, 4:51
Well, that just sucks.