Up Next
This week's news that the Belgian Grand Prix will rotate on and off the Formula 1 calendar is the first proper recent confirmation we have had that new venues are coming.
Amid the boom of interest in grand prix racing in the Liberty Media era, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has long talked about there being no scope to expand things the total number of events further - with the schedule already at breaking point with 24 races.
Instead, he has regularly hinted about the potential for keeping the number of races per year the same but with some events shuffling in and out each season. This allows more countries to ultimately enter the F1 ecosystem.
Speaking on an investors’ call last year, Domenicali said F1 was carefully weighing up how to approach this.
"We are seeing a lot of interest, from a lot of countries, in Formula 1, and this obviously represents an opportunity for development," he said.
"At the same time, it puts us under an obligation to make choices in terms of the calendar."
Committing to Spa dropping off the schedule in 2028 for the first absence that would be part of an official rotation deal offers a clear indication that there is an open slot in the calendar. But which event will fill it?
Of course, it could go to a European event already on the calendar but also under threat for its full-time place, such as Barcelona, or another event previously on the schedule in recent years such as Turkey.
But what if a totally new event filled that gap, or another created by future calendar rotations?
Asian contenders
There have been three obvious candidates that have emerged and been openly talked about in F1 circles, but none of those are at a state where they are close to a deal being signed off, yet.
Thailand had perhaps been the most advanced in its dealings with F1, with its former prime minister Srettha Thavisin visiting last year’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix as part of an exercise to push negotiations forwards.
He and Domenicali met several times to talk about the event, but his dismissal last year will likely have been a setback in the plans.
The idea had been for a street race in Bangkok – with 2028 having emerged as an obvious target pending the project getting the green light.
But Thailand was not the only Asian venue eyeing a slot on the calendar, with South Korea also interested in a return to the F1 schedule following its stint from 2010-13 at the Korea International Circuit.
Last year, the city of Incheon - around two hours to the west of the capital, Seoul, by train - submitted a letter of intent to F1 about hosting a street race there as its mayor met Domenicali at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Despite the local government wanting to push forward with its plans, they are not yet understood to be at an advanced enough stage to think a deal is close.
African options
Asia is not the only continent where F1 is looking for expansion though, because Africa is also in the running.
A return to South Africa for the first time since 1993 has long been talked about, and its sports minister Gayton McKenzie declared last December that he felt the race would go ahead at an upgraded Kyalami circuit, just north of Johannesberg.
"The race is going to happen at Kyalami,” McKenzie told Supersport. “Kyalami is doing what they need to do. [Circuit bosses] Toby Venter and Willie Venter are doing a great job bringing Kyalami to F1 standards. They have put money in there, it is there.
"They have met with Apex, that is doing the track to bring it to F1 standards. We are making sure that we are going to host, so I think we are looking at 2027. We were there, it’s going to happen. It’s coming here."
However, a lot of F1 attention on the African continent has more recently been focused on Rwanda, which hosted the FIA Prize Gala in December.
At that event, Rwanda president Paul Kagame (pictured below, left) officially launched his country’s bid for an F1 race.
The idea is for a grand prix to be hosted at a circuit that is planned to be built close to the new Bugesera airport near the nation's capital, Kigali.
The track is being designed by former F1 driver Alex Wurz, who has been working with the government and local representatives for more than a year on creating the fast and flowing layout that runs around the forests and lake there.
No clear favourite
While the interest from all the above countries is clear – and we can include Argentina as another place that has expressed some desire – there is a big leap between someone wanting a race and getting a deal across the line.
None of the above candidates have emerged as a clear frontrunner for 2028, and much will depend on how their plans evolve and talks with F1 go over the next year or so.
F1 has long been adamant that before it commits to any new race joining the calendar, it wants to be sure that it is right for the business.
Returnee European races possible too
And it is not impossible that, while the focus is on rotating European races to in theory make room for new areas of expansion, freeing up space in the calendar could become a tool to bring more races on board from Europe.
There has been talk that France could want to get a slot back on a rotational basis, and in the background too is the fact that new F1 manufacturer entrant Audi is known to want Germany back on the schedule.
Germany has been absent since Hockenheim's last appearance in 2019, while France's last F1 race was at Paul Ricard in 2022.
For now, F1 does not need to rush its decision, but what the Spa rotation deal has done is opened the door on getting some momentum behind a new grand prix deal being signed off.
