Is F1 calendar rotation a cash grab or a sensible move? Our writers have their say

The Belgian Grand Prix's four races over six years deal is the first of Formula 1’s race rotation plan

After the announcement that the Belgian Grand Prix has signed a new four-race contract over the next six seasons, it has committed to Formula 1’s planned rotational system.

F1 will head to Spa-Francorchamps in 2026, 2027, 2029 and 2031 but will miss out in 2028 and 2030 as part of its new deal that starts after this year’s edition.

It has triggered the focus on F1’s race rotation plan and what it means for the future of certain races and the outlook of the calendar over the next few years. Our writers offer their views.

Rotation best policy for variation and stops races being priced out – Ben Hunt

The Spa-Francorchamps calendar announcement is finally one to celebrate.

The Belgian GP’s position on F1’s future calendars on a rotational is good news for the series and its fans.

It is understandable that F1’s owners are keen to tie up circuits to lucrative multi-year deals running into the hundreds of millions of dollars, but one Belgian GP every other year over a 10-year season ticket in the stands at the Qatar GP appeals any day.

Liberty Media needs to have balance in putting the calendar together, which is already at breaking point with 24 races.

Yes, it needs to generate money, but it also has to provide entertainment and respect F1’s DNA and its history.

Those escalating fees for hosting F1 races are understandable given the championship’s global appeal while it is now a proven way to give smaller countries, such as Bahrain, some significant global profile. Having an F1 race certainly appeals, but it also has to be right for the series.

By the same token, we should not dismiss those tracks because they can no longer afford to commit to such long-term and costly deals. By having them on a rotational basis not only adds variety to the calendar by mixing up the venues, it also allows tracks to remain relevant.

The rotational concept will increase the likelihood for circuits such as Imola, that sees its contract with F1 expire this year, to remain part of the championship. It could even pave the way for a rotational return of the French and German GPs or even the Malaysian or South Korean races.

The variation is positive and, providing the calendar is constructed in the right way with a mixture of new and traditional circuits, then this is a good, cost-effective way to include more options.

Welcome to the topsy-turvy world of late-capitalism F1 – Stuart Codling

The steward on the Qatar Airlines flight from Doha to Heathrow asked where I’d come from. I said, “Qatar.” She palpably WTF’d. Even for the national airline, Doha is regarded as a hub; nobody actually gets off there and stays off.

Except, perhaps, for those of us travelling to the Qatar Grand Prix – or, a couple of years ago, to football’s FIFA World Cup. The stadiums expensively erected for the latter purpose now lie unused but, it seems, permanently illuminated at night. To pass through this curious alt-Disneyland where money is seemingly no object is to be reminded where the majority of the world’s capital now resides.

Calendar rotation is the first stage of nations clinging on to the belief of their tier-one status being pushed out in favour of those with deeper pockets. Does F1 really need the two grands prix in Saudi Arabia which are surely coming next, consigning another deluded tier-two nation into irregular-regular GP status?

Whatever your opinion, the decision is driven purely by the balance sheet after two decades in which one set of vulture capitalists leveraged the F1 business to the hilt before selling up to a new buyer which also has debts to service. Races which have no central government backing are now struggling to afford the asking price.

This hunger for cash explains why a commercial rights holder which noisily proclaims its commitment to being net zero by 2030 would prefer you flew to, say, Qatar, rather than drive/train/coach to Spa-Francorchamps. It is an epic feat of doublethink.

You might echo the sentiments of Field of Dreams and say “If you build it, they [the fans] will come.” But don’t forget it took nearly 20 years for the Chinese Grand Prix to become an overnight sell-out…

Rotation sensible method to keep calendar manageable – Jake Boxall-Legge

If F1 could have its way, then there would be 30 races on the calendar - if not more. How very dare the personnel behind the championship be subject to phenomena such as fatigue, injury, and illness! If only we could employ robots...

There seems to be a tacit agreement that 24 races is the absolute maximum an F1 calendar can be, before it starts to push people towards breaking point. One might argue that, when you look at staff retention and the need for rotation throughout the paddock, that this is already beyond the point at which people start to fold. What was wrong with 16 races? Ah yes, the lucrative hosting fees that jingle merrily into the championship's bulging purse.

And F1 still wants to reach more countries around the world. Getting a grand prix in Africa is the number one priority, and there are still more wealthy regimes yet untapped across Planet Earth that could inject dubiously acquired capital into the coffers. But F1 cannot afford to lose its European heartland, nor can it lose its cast of classic venues that the teams and drivers all love visiting.

Rotational races are the best compromise to keep valued circuits in F1 at a reduced rate, and to maintain a somewhat manageable calendar size. Spa-Francorchamps is, for some reason, universally loved and would be missed by large swathes of the fanbase if it was to retreat from the schedule altogether; having it in rotation not only gives it a chance to stay on the calendar, but also allows another 'at-risk' grand prix to remain part of the circus.

This isn't NASCAR; F1 doesn't need 36 races to stay relevant. In an ideal world, around 16-20 of the best circuits should be enough to ensure the championship still retains regularity without oversaturation. But, as you'll notice, this isn't an ideal world - as such, rotation is the next best thing.

Fans right to be upset, but brace for more – Filip Cleeren

The decision to move towards alternating Spa and another race from 2028 onwards has sparked frustration among fans, and they have every right to be upset. Spa-Francorchamps is one of the few true crown jewels of grand prix racing, rightfully named in the same breath as Silverstone, Monza, Monaco and Suzuka. It feels wrong that one of those races will now drop off the calendar, even if just intermittently. And while the Belgian Grand Prix can't boast the same commercial package as some of the new kids on the block, it is of the utmost importance that F1 keeps that balance between old and new, traditional courses and street circuits.

F1 will argue that it is still safeguarding that balance, and that its contract renewals of Suzuka, Monza and now Spa are a sign of it not losing sight of the historic pillars of its championship. While inclined to agree, for now, but depending on which venues will join in 2027 or beyond, the series is embarking on a course that starts stretching that concept.

If you take a glass half-full approach, we do get four more races at Spa and its organisers have been rewarded for their persistence and desire to make their event belong in Liberty Media's vision of what F1 should be. The local government deserves credit for its financial backing, recognising the value of the race for its economy and global appeal. Until recently it was most certainly not a given that Belgium would stay on the calendar at all.

F1 fans who are aggrieved by the obvious downside to this announcement may want to take a deep breath, for this is just the start of what F1 intends to do. With a hard limit of 24 races, rotation will be inevitable if the series wishes to expand to new markets, whether in the Far East or Africa. Naturally it won't be the Middle East, which currently hosts four lucrative races and is working on a fifth, that will have to make concessions. It will be the "old world", as F1 chief Stefano Domenicali calls Europe's heartland, that will have to pay a price. Such is the way of the world, and F1 is not any different.

Such a strategy is logical for a company that intends to build up the value of the series and turn a profit. One does wonder what will happen if F1's popularity bubble eventually bursts and it will have alienated its original fanbase. But for the time being, we are not there yet.

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Autosport Staff
Formula 1
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