15/11/2024
NEWS STORY
F1 CEO, Stefano Domenicali admits that as more potential hosts emerge, F1 races in the sport's traditional European heartland are set to take place on a rotational basis.
Despite their previous flirtations with the sport, South Korea and India are said to be keen to see F1 return, while Rwanda has expressed interest along with Argentina, which is keen to capitalise on the potential of young Franco Colapinto. And then there's Saudi Arabia, which is seeking a second race at its Qiddiya Circuit.
With hosts said to be queuing around the block eager to part with their money in a bid to get on the F1 schedule, the only problem is the fact that the calendar is limited to just 25 races, though F1 bosses believe that a cap of 24 events makes more sense.
Consequently, those events in the sport's traditional heartland of Europe, which usually pay far less in hosting fees than the far richer newcomers, are set to be put on a rotational basis as the sport expands and capitalises on its newfound success.
"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," Domenicali told analysts during a conference call as Liberty Media revealed the sport's third-quarter finances.
"This is something that, of course, we will clarify in the due course," he added.
"It is true that we have a large demand of new possible venues that want to come in," he continued. "And our choice will always be balanced between the right economical benefits that we can have as a system and also to leverage the growth on the market that we can see potential that will be beneficial for us to grow even further our business."
There are currently ten races in Europe, with Italy the only country that hosts two rounds of the championship. Madrid joins the schedule in 2026, and while Barcelona wishes to continue it is thought that it may be forced to rotate with another event, and while some have said it could be with Zandvoort, the sport is unlikely to want to upset the Orange Army at this time.
"I believe that all the propositions that are coming on our table are just giving us the possibility to make even better choices for our future," said Domenicali. "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."
Of course, it was the sport's European heartland that saved the day in 2020 when Liberty Media was desperately seeking to get F1 going as COVID decimated the global sporting calendar, but since when did F1 under Liberty care about such things as history, tradition or loyalty.