Future Grands Prix?

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Great for British F1 fans but I am concerned we will continue to miss out on other major International series coming to the venue, or the UK as a whole.

It would be great to have something along the lines of the BOAC 500 or 1000 happen on the Brands GP circuit. I used to love going to see them 50 odd years ago.

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Great for British F1 fans but I am concerned we will continue to miss out on other major International series coming to the venue, or the UK as a whole.

I've not been to The British Grand Prix for over 30 years and was lucky enough to be involved so that for the last 5 years I didn't have to pay to get in. I was told what it now costs, so despite Silverstone managing to extend their deal, I still don't think I'll be attending.

[S griffin]

Glad Silverstone is staying, it wouldn’t be the same without. The atmosphere there is so much better than many other circuits

[Plantagenet]

I agree - apart from F1 and MotoGP, there doesn't seem to be much appetite for international series such as WEC (inexplicable to me, given how many Brits make the effort to go to the Sarthe).
The golden generation of motorsport (say 60-80s) had so much more breath. hey-ho.

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by Plantagenet

I agree - apart from F1 and MotoGP, there doesn't seem to be much appetite for international series such as WEC (inexplicable to me, given how many Brits make the effort to go to the Sarthe).
The golden generation of motorsport (say 60-80s) had so much more breath. hey-ho.

Problem is Brexit has made it less attractive for series to come over here. They just don’t find it worth the hassle anymore

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by Plantagenet

I agree - apart from F1 and MotoGP, there doesn't seem to be much appetite for international series such as WEC (inexplicable to me, given how many Brits make the effort to go to the Sarthe).
The golden generation of motorsport (say 60-80s) had so much more breath. hey-ho.

They've already got your money at the 24, do they think they'll get enough twice AND new over a guaranteed payday or at least a decent funding at another track?

Not saying the idea makes real sense but you can see where they come from with the thinking and smaller number of events. They could run WEC in the US at a real track people want to see but no, they're obsessed with running at Indy. It's the sportscar equivalent of watching paint dry

[Alan52]

Reported there are issues with Las Vegas as Liberty didn’t get all the government sign offs they were supposed to.
I suggest Nevada put Michael Andretti in charge of negotiations.

[bjohnsonsmith]

In an interview with Racing365.com, Mario Andretti warns F1 of overdoing it with races in the US.

https://racingnews365.com/andretti-w...-united-states

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

In an interview with Racing365.com, Mario Andretti warns F1 of overdoing it with races in the US.

https://racingnews365.com/andretti-w...-united-states

That article is from last year (before the Las Vegas race) and is primarily warning about going to four races in the US but agree that his point remains valid. I was actually really surprised at the 2025 calendar and how the US races and Mexico are all so close to each other - helping with logistics of course but that's a lot of ticket sales, corporate revenue etc. to generate in a short time frame.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Tourer

That article is from last year (before the Las Vegas race) and is primarily warning about going to four races in the US but agree that his point remains valid. I was actually really surprised at the 2025 calendar and how the US races and Mexico are all so close to each other - helping with logistics of course but that's a lot of ticket sales, corporate revenue etc. to generate in a short time frame.

So it is. I can barely read the date.

The last three races of 2025 are also very close together; Las Vegas November 20-22, Qatar November 28-30 and Abu Dhabi December 5-7.

[Richard C]

Not sure where to post this. But I stumbled across this drone footage of the work they are doing on Monza (substantial track work and I guess they are also working on new facilities?). You can also see the large qty of trees that were blown down (I think last year and prior to last years GP?) by a storm. I think they have a large replanting effort in progress.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxOg0TubdLc

Richard

[chillibowl]

i dont know how serious this actually is but Domenicali making it sound like its kind of serious?

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/r...-bid/10642881/

personally feel like this would be a break moment for me if F1/FOM actually decides to go there or lets them spend money like this just for the promise of hosting a race. of course some will say this is the sort of economic boon that can help an impoverished nation but to me that defence falls flat.

surely there are more viable locations to seek out in Africa?

[Mike Harte]

Rwanda needs to find a way that they waste the £750 million that the UK has paid them to take 4 refugees since this "treaty" was created 3 or 4 years ago. Oh, and the previous government also paid those 4 individuals a few thousand pounds to go there, as well otherwise they wouldn't have gone. Need to add that those 4 didn't originally come from Rwanda, they came from other countries.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Formula 1 doesn't need anymore races. Will a GP in Rwanda kick start grass roots motorsport there? I doubt it. However, if Formula 1 thinks it needs to go to Africa, wouldn't South Africa be the logical choice?

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Formula 1 doesn't need anymore races. Will a GP in Rwanda kick start grass roots motorsport there? I doubt it. However, if Formula 1 thinks it needs to go to Africa, wouldn't South Africa be the logical choice?

Exactly. We already have too many races and now we're looking at one where it's hardly a great place and has no motorsport history

[Sodemo]

I have no doubt some “serious” money will be changing hands.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by Richard C

Not sure where to post this. But I stumbled across this drone footage of the work they are doing on Monza (substantial track work and I guess they are also working on new facilities?). You can also see the large qty of trees that were blown down (I think last year and prior to last years GP?) by a storm. I think they have a large replanting effort in progress.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxOg0TubdLc

Richard

Wow. That's a lot of work to do. It looks like footage from out of the 'Abandoned Tracks' thread!

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

Wow. That's a lot of work to do. It looks like footage from out of the 'Abandoned Tracks' thread!

That was published about 4 months ago and this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txrsNiQyblQ was a month later. A lot could have been accomplished in time for the 1st September.

[Richard C]

Mike, here is much more recent (3 weeks ago) video from that same channel. As you call out, lots can be done in many months if effort is put into it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUmfO8F1Jv0

They look nearly done.

Richard

[chillibowl]

i hate to say it because there are already too many races on the calendar imo, but does F1 need another race on the calendar to fill this 1 month gap between the Singapore and Austin races?

on one hand this is not the official summer break shutdown so teams can continue to work on their cars but on the other hand, given the budget restrictions how much money and time will teams even be putting towards developing their current cars this late in the season?

maybe just feeling it more because Mclaren are on an uptick?

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

i hate to say it because there are already too many races on the calendar imo, but does F1 need another race on the calendar to fill this 1 month gap between the Singapore and Austin races?

on one hand this is not the official summer break shutdown so teams can continue to work on their cars but on the other hand, given the budget restrictions how much money and time will teams even be putting towards developing their current cars this late in the season?

maybe just feeling it more because Mclaren are on an uptick?

From memory this break only happened because the Qatar GP, originally scheduled into the middle of this gap was moved to just before Abu Dhabi to hopefully avoid the worst of the hot conditions experienced last year.

I certainly wouldn't be looking for more races, just manage the gaps between them.

IMHO it's a good thing that Qatar was moved after so much difficulty for drivers last year - with the problems that Mercedes seems to have with heat transmission into the cockpit, it would be borderline dangerous to compete for them and others might be close to the same level of problem.

[chillibowl]

Right! I didn’t think of that. Sounds like GR and Ham were not feeling well post race. Qatar would be even more demanding.

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

Right! I didn’t think of that. Sounds like GR and Ham were not feeling well post race. Qatar would be even more demanding.

Totally - must be something about how Mercedes has laid up the tub this year as both drivers have complained about it a few times now & I guess if fixable the team would have fixed it.

Mind you, there were a few of them looked pretty heated up after Singapore.