Belgian GP signs new F1 deal until 2031 on rotational basis

Formula 1 will return to Spa-Francorchamps for four more races until 2031, but the event drops off the calendar in 2028 and 2030

The Belgian Grand Prix has signed a fresh four-race contract extension as it joins Formula 1's planned rotational system.

The event at Spa-Francorchamps will host four F1 races over the next six seasons - 2026, 2027, 2029, and 2031 - and will drop off the calendar in 2028 and 2030.

The Belgian race's contract was set to expire after this year's edition, with the organisers pushing for a fresh five-year deal.

But with interest from prospective venues to host a grand prix at an all-time high, and F1 particularly keen to expand into Asia, Spa had long been earmarked as one of several European rounds to enter a rotational system.

The end result is a compromise that will hand Spa, which depends on financial backing by the Walloon government, a longer running deal that allows it to write off investments and move away from its recent run of stressful short-term contract extensions. It also allows F1 the flexibility to add a new venue to the calendar without stretching beyond the limit of 24 races per season.

Spa's deal leaves just the futures of Barcelona and Imola to be decided, with both races also facing expiring deals. Like Spa, Imola's current deal is running out after this season, while Barcelona's last races is currently scheduled in 2026, when it loses its Spanish Grand Prix moniker to a new race in Madrid.

The aforementioned races have seen competition for European slots diminish in recent months after organisers of Zandvoort's Dutch Grand Prix decided to draw the curtain on its event after the 2026 edition.

The Belgian Grand Prix, originally held on a fearsome 14km country road loop around the Ardennes forests, was one of the seven original races on the world championship's inaugural calendar in 1950.

After spells in Zolder and Nivelles, F1 returned to a curtailed and modernised Spa-Francorchamps in the 80s, with the popular Ardennes circuit still regarded as a fan and driver favourite. Spa has hosted the Belgian Grand Prix annually since 1985, with two interruptions in 2003 and 2006.

In this article
Filip Cleeren
Formula 1
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