How can we reconcile, in a single calendar of 24 (or even 25) Grands Prix, historic and emblematic meetings with new, more exotic and unique destinations? The answer could lie in the rotation of the calendar for the traditional European rounds. A solution already mentioned many times and which could finally be applied from 2026. This is in any case the desire shared by Stefano Domenicali. The Formula 1 president raised this idea at a conference with Liberty Media investors.
F1 should make an announcement soon, says Domenicali
“We have some news to share very, very soon regarding the mid-term possibility of having rotating European Grands Prix and other new options coming later. This is something that, of course, we will clarify in due course, said the Italian leader. It is true that we have a high demand for possible new sites and our choice will always be balanced between the economic benefits that we can have as a system and also to take advantage of the growth in the market that we can see as a potential that will be beneficial for us to develop our business even more. »
In 2025, several Grands Prix will reach the end of their contract with Formula 1, including five meetings in Europe: Belgium, Emilia-Romagna (Imola), Italy (Monza), the Netherlands and Monaco. The Spanish meeting will be relocated to Madrid in 2026. These five events are not guaranteed to have a permanent place each year from 2026, while new localities would like to host Formula 1 in their turn, notably Thailand , Rwanda, South Africa and Saudi Arabia (for a 2nd Grand Prix in Qiddiya) among the main candidates. The Concorde Agreements authorize a calendar with a maximum of 25 Grands Prix, which would leave room for one new destination only with the current calendar.
Rotation, an opportunity for France?
Faced with new exotic destinations and their contracts much juicier than the classic European meetings, these five threatened Grands Prix could persist on the calendar thanks to this rotation system. Imola and Monza would be the first rounds targeted by the rotation, while Spa-Francorchamps and Zandvoort could even swap places from 2026 to keep their places. For their part, organizers of the Dutch Grand Prix have said they are open to rotating the event.
If this rotation system is put in place, it could also be an opportunity to revisit the French Grand Prix in the medium term on the Formula 1 calendar. At the time, the possibility was studied by the GIP to survive, but had not succeeded. Formula 1 has not had a rotation between two events for more than ten years: between 2007 and 2014, the Nürburgring and the Hockenheimring shared the alternating organization of the German Grand Prix, every other year, to reduce the organizational costs.
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