Domenicali: “Creating the perfect calendar is not a simple puzzle”

The Circus never stands still. 2026 is the year of the revolution in Formula 1: new cars, new engines and a new and richer starting grid, with the advent of Cadillac as the 11th team and the debut of a giant like Audi, which took the place of the ‘old’ Sauber. But in the Circus standing still is impossible and so the boss of the championship, Stefano Domenicali, is already looking to the future of the category. An always hot topic is that of the race calendar, which has now stabilized at 24 GPs but which from 2027 should instead see an increase in the number of Sprints, currently set at six. Regarding the GP venues, F1 is constantly evolving: after the recent additions of Miami and Las Vegas, this year F1 will welcome the city track of Madrid and in 2027 it will once again embrace the Portuguese track of Portimao; on the other hand, however, Imola, Zandvoort and perhaps Barcelona are ‘outgoing’. Domenicali himself recently spoke about issues related to the World Championship calendar in a long interview given to the official F1 website in partnership with the Spanish credit institution Santander: “It’s fantastic to share the fact that today, thanks to the great success we are experiencing, there are many countries that would like to host the races – explained Domenicali – but we can’t have too many. I believe that the balance we have today is excellent. When we take into consideration new events, new locations, new countries, there are many things that we have to think about and that we have to put on the table.” Many different interests “Certainly there is the economic aspect and there is the interest of that country and our partners – underlined the number one of F1 – because we must respect what they would like to see when we enter a country. We must also understand what the business model we can develop there is. Because it is relevant not only [l’interesse] in the early years, but also in the future. The interest must be maintained.” One of the Circus’ medium-long term objectives is to return to Africa, the only continent that is not currently represented by even one race in the championship. “For us it is important to maintain the balance between new events, city circuits, places with a tradition and places that will have a future, so it is fascinating – commented Domenicali – creating the perfect calendar is one of the most difficult things to do, because there are so many elements that every country, every promoter, wants to be respected. So it’s a puzzle that, ultimately, is beautiful, but not easy.”