Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has teased that certain European races will be rotated on the calendar from 2026 onwards.
Spa Francorchamps, Monaco, Imola and Zandvoort all have contracts with F1 that expire at the end of the 2025 season.
Baku’s current deal runs through 2026, as does Barcelona’s, but the introduction of the forthcoming Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid for 2026 throws the Catalunya race into doubt.
The remainder of the European circuits have secured their mid to long-term futures, with Silverstone recently announcing a blockbuster 10-year extension to host the British Grand Prix.
With the F1 calendar becoming a global affair, the length at breaking point with 24 rounds and new regions attracting interest, Domenicali has floated a new option.
“[2026] is a year where there will be a lot of grands prix, mainly in Europe, where we have different options that we can take,” said Domenicali.
“I think Madrid shows one thing that was very important for us, to see that the attention of F1 is there, also in the old continent, where everyone was thinking, ‘Oh, you know, we need to move out of Europe, because there’s not anymore the interest.’ But we showed the opposite.”
Domenicali added: “I think in ’26, you’re going to see something interesting,” hinting at rotation in the European calendar.
“We are discussing with other promoters in Europe to do something that will be announced soon.”
F1’s CEO also spoke on the recent raft of long-term contracts signed with circuit promoters.
Silverstone’s deal through 2034 is in a similar ilk to deals signed with Sao Paulo and the Red Bull Ring that run through 2030.
Similarly, Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia signed 10-year contracts in 2021 to stay on the calendar into the next decade.
Montreal and Miami have deals through 2031, the Hungaroring and Losail through 2032.
Bahrain and Melbourne blow the rest out of the water with deals running through 2036 and 2037 respectively.
“I think as always when we take the decision with regard to the renewal, there are a lot of elements that we need to consider,” Domenicali said.
“The financial aspect is relevant, no doubt.
“And the fact that we are able to stabilise with certain promoters, which we believe represent incredible opportunities, in terms of our stability in these markets, is a relevant element to consider.
“The fact that you have seen in the last couple of years that we were able to ratify incredible agreements with certain promoters means that is, from one side, of course, a very interesting financial package.
“But on the other side, an incredible opportunity to develop our business in other areas that are on top of the one that is related to the promotional fee. And that’s really our approach.”
So where could F1 be heading next?
There’s been talk of India, South Africa, a fourth U.S race in Chicago and Motorsport.com revealed Monday that FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the potential of F1 returning to the country.
Still, the discussion of circuit contracts falls under F1 and Formula One Management (FOM) and with all this talk of new venues being added to the calendar, some will fear F1 will grow beyond the record 24 races, which Max Verstappen recently told Motorsport Week is already “over the limit.”
The current Concorde agreement allows for a maximum of 25 races and expanding that further in the next agreement will add to the power struggle and financial tussle between F1 and the FIA, plus stretch the already exasperated members of the paddock.
But Domencali issues that 24 is the number of races F1 wishes to remain at and reiterates that a potential announcement regarding European promoters will help facilitate this.
“It is clear that if you see the development of our regionalisation of the calendar, we have moved out from being European-centric to a very worldwide development, that needs to be kept into the future,” he said.
“I just want to confirm the fact that we believe 24 races is the right number. I think that we are going to play in the right way, in the way I was mentioning just briefly before, on the fact that we have certain opportunities that we want to bring to the market in the next couple of years, starting from 2026 onwards.”
