Formula 1 boss Stefano Domenicali says there will be “some good news” coming soon and that the championship has “so many requests” from prospective venues.
Formula 1’s calendar has undergone extensive work through the last two years due to the pandemic and last week its 2022 schedule, featuring a record 23 rounds, was unveiled.
Qatar and Saudi Arabia will both debut later this year – with Qatar due to be a permanent fixture from 2023 – while Miami will make its bow next May, and Russia’s round will switch to Igora Drive from 2023.
Writing in his column on the official Formula 1 website, Domenicali outlined that “to have three new events in the space of six months shows the sport is in a strong place.”
“Regarding the future beyond 2022, there will be some other good news coming out soon, which I don’t want to spoil by saying now.
“We are going in the right direction and have reached a point where we can choose where F1 will go in the future.
“We have so many requests to host a Grand Prix. It shows our platform is attractive with more and more governments seeing it as an opportunity to develop their businesses, local economy and awareness of their community. Exciting times ahead.”
Formula 1 has previously targeted a second round in China (though for now the sport remains without its first event in Shanghai due to the pandemic), a return to Africa – with South Africa’s Kyalami mooted – and America as its main targets.
On next year’s 23-round calendar it is expected that up to a third of the events could feature Sprint, which was introduced in 2021 on a trial basis.
Sprint has received mixed criticism but Domenicali asserted that the format change has been well-received, particularly among younger spectators.
“Starting from Friday, action mode is fully engaged,” he said. “It’s why the promoters are happy. We have received requests from a lot of promoters to host the Sprint.
“From a sporting perspective, we have seen that the less time you have to practice, the more unpredictable the action is on track in qualifying and the race. There is some fine tuning we need to do – but we are working through that now.
“It’s always easy to be negative and not change but we push to go in this direction because we see the enthusiasm from young generation and the wider interest from those around the world.”
