Official, the Turkish GP will be back on the calendar from 2027

Welcome back Turkey Six years after the last edition held, which dates back to 2021 and was won by Valtteri Bottas, the Turkish Grand Prix will return to occupy a place in the world championship calendar of Formula 1. The announcement is official and brings the much appreciated Istanbul Park track – tackled for the first time by the Circus in 2005 – into the world championship program starting from the 2027 season. The agreement is for a duration five-year anniversary, a tangible sign of F1’s desire to re-establish a lasting relationship with one of the most technical and evocative tracks on the world scene. The announcement was made at an event organized at the Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul in the presence of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali and FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem: “We are thrilled to return to Istanbul starting in 2027 to give emotions to all our fans in Turkey and around the world on one of the most exciting and challenging circuits in Formula 1,” commented Domenicali. “As a city, Istanbul represents a cultural bridge between Europe and Asia, offering a unique mix of history and tradition with a forward-thinking approach to sport, business and entertainment. Many memorable moments in the history of our sport have been experienced at Istanbul Park, and I am thrilled to begin the next chapter of our collaboration, giving fans the opportunity to experience even more incredible races in a truly fantastic location.” “Istanbul Park is a circuit that holds a special place in the history of Formula 1, and its return underlines our shared commitment to expanding the championship into dynamic markets,” added Ben Sulayem. A prestigious history The Istanbul Park track – on which F1 had raced continuously from 2005 to 2011 – had then returned to the calendar already in the two-year period 2020-2021, when it had found space as a fundamental ‘stop-gap’ in a period in which the Circus had been forced to stay away from many non-European tracks due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The 2020 edition was memorable in this sense, conditioned by rain and very slippery asphalt with poor drainage conditions which however contributed to creating a race full of twists and turns, at the end of which Lewis Hamilton won his seventh world title. However, the record holder of victories in Türkiye is Felipe Massa, who achieved three successes in his career, moreover consecutively, between 2006 and 2008.