F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has been heavily featured in the news over the last few weeks. Earlier this month, the Italian made a statement to Sport TV where he supported the idea of cancelling free practice sessions, and removing them from F1.
This take was very negatively received by the fans, who feel that practice sessions are an integral part of a race weekend. Now, Domenicali has brought up another conversation that has been discussed on multiple occasions over the last few years.
F1 as a sport is growing massively, and new venues like Miami, Jeddah and Las Vegas have been added to the calendar over the last few years. However, with 23 races taking place in a year, many feel that the workers, drivers and engineers are being pushed to the limit.
Domenicali, on the other hand, feels that the growing demand of F1 means that they can easily have 30+ races in a calendar year.
New races being added to the F1 calendar
F1’s huge growth over the last few years has seen new venues in the calendar. The 2023 season was originally scheduled to have 24 races, but after the cancellation of the Chinese GP, F1 decided to go ahead with 23, which still makes it the biggest campaign of all time (in terms of number of races).
There have been rumors about several other tracks being added to the schedule. The likes of Malaysia, South Africa, Portugal and Turkey, all want a permanent spot in the F1 calendar, and if they work on it, there is a huge possibility that we will see 30+ races in a single year.
“We could have already today more than 30, even 32 grands prix, because everyone wants one,” the 57-year-old said at the SportNXT conference in Melbourne.
F1 satisfied with current number of races
Even though F1 can ‘easily add’ more than 30 races to the calendar, Domenicali cleared the air by stating that they are happy with 24 in the schedule. China became a miss yet again in 2023 and whether they’ll be involved in 2024 is yet to be announced.
However, F1 will have 24 races next year onwards, and if the Shanghai International Circuit is unable to host a Grand Prix once again, there will be a replacement.
In 2023, the Las Vegas GP will make its long-awaited return to F1. The Sin City previously hosted F1 races between 1981 and 1984 under the name- Caesars Place GP, but it didn’t turn out to be very successful.
After witnessing F1’s growing demand in the US, the organizers decided to bring F1 back to Vegas, and the iconic strip is gearing up to host the penultimate race of 2023.
