There are extra Method 1 races than ever, and subsequent season there will probably be much more, with 24 races, essentially the most within the sport’s historical past.
This 12 months’s Method 1 schedule, at 23 occasions, ought to have set the report, however the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was canceled due to the acute rainfall that devastated the area. That occasion, on the Imola circuit in Italy, will return on Could 19, 2024, and would be the seventh race of the 12 months.
Additionally returning to the calendar is the Chinese language Grand Prix, which was final held on the Shanghai Worldwide Circuit in 2019. Method 1 and the Chinese language race’s promoter have a contract via 2025, and subsequent 12 months’s Grand Prix will probably be on April 21, the season’s fifth race.
“Now there’s lots of people actually into racing and Method 1 who can’t wait to return there — additionally myself — for the Grand Prix,” mentioned Zhou Guanyu of China, who drives for Alfa Romeo.
The opposite 22 Grands Prix from the 2023 calendar have all been retained, with 15 outdoors of Western Europe, the place nearly all of the game’s personnel are based mostly. The season will start on March 2 in Bahrain and conclude on Dec. 8 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
“There’s big curiosity and continued demand for Method 1, and I consider this calendar strikes the correct stability between conventional races and new and present venues,” mentioned Stefano Domenicali, the chief govt of Method 1.
There was motion towards regionalizing the calendar to scale back journey and support in sustainability, with some occasions, notably in Japan, Azerbaijan and Qatar, transferring within the schedule to ease journey.
Nonetheless, there are nonetheless some awkward journeys. The three occasions in the US stay separated, with Miami the sixth spherical on Could 5; Austin, Texas, the nineteenth spherical on Oct. 20; and Las Vegas the twenty second spherical on Nov. 23. Australia, the third spherical on March 24, is way from different occasions, however Japan is the subsequent race, on April 7. Canada, the ninth spherical on June 9, is, like Australia, by itself amid a string of European occasions.
Some drivers are resigned to the expanded schedule.
“It’s too many [races] for me, however we simply must take care of it,” mentioned Max Verstappen of Crimson Bull after the calendar’s launch in July. “I believe it’s a bit extra logical the best way it’s deliberate not less than, so I suppose that’s higher for everybody.”
Lando Norris of McLaren additionally famous the quantity of races.
“I’d say 24 is so much,” he mentioned. “If I needed to put like an ideal quantity, I might say it’s in all probability nearer to twenty. For the lives of mechanics, engineers, everybody that travels, they’re away from their households, youngsters and so forth, for therefore many days, extra days than us as drivers are away, so it’s harder for them.”
Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin first raced in a Grand Prix in 2001, when there have been 17 occasions, six of which had been outdoors of Europe.
“I perceive the advantages of 24 races, the explanations behind it, there’s numerous curiosity in Method 1, numerous demand, so it’s good to go to new nations, new races, and there’s new income,” he mentioned. “However I believe for staff members 18 is an efficient quantity. Greater than 18-19, and also you begin stressing the mechanics, the media. Everyone seems to be simply on the again foot from February to December.”
Groups rotate workers members when doable to present them a while off. There’s additionally a nine-day winter manufacturing facility shutdown when the websites that work on the vehicles have to be principally closed, in addition to a 14-day August recess. Drivers and others are additionally acutely aware about oversaturation, notably with the addition of the dash races which were held the day earlier than the principle race at six Grands Prix this 12 months.
There’s additionally the stability between retaining the historic venues, resembling Monaco and Silverstone in England, and looking for new ones. Method 1’s occasions within the Center East all have contracts stretching into the 2030s, however many older European occasions are on shorter offers and others, resembling France and Germany, have been discontinued. Monaco and Italy have contracts expiring after 2025, whereas Belgium’s contract expires on the finish of this 12 months.
The game is “seeking to increase their calendar increasingly, and you’ll see numerous the brand new venues which are coming to Method 1 are fairly business venues, like Miami, or Vegas this 12 months,” mentioned Stoffel Vandoorne, who raced in 2017 and 2018 for McLaren and is now an Aston Martin and McLaren reserve driver. “They’re huge locations that they’re going to, and I believe that’s tremendous, completely tremendous, however I nonetheless suppose there must be a mix of each on the calendar, to retain these races, like Spa [in Belgium], like Suzuka [in Japan], which are the right old-school tracks.”
Including races is nothing new. Saudi Arabia and Qatar had been added in 2021, Miami in 2022 and Las Vegas this 12 months. Every promoter pays a internet hosting charge to Method 1, boosting its revenues, which in flip will increase prize cash for groups.
Beneath the Concorde Settlement, which binds collectively Method 1, the F.I.A. and the groups, the annual restrict for Grands Prix is 24, however different venues are nonetheless being explored.
Method 1 has lengthy been looking for a return to Africa because it strives to have a spherical on most continents. The Kyalami circuit in South Africa final hosted a Grand Prix in 1993.