Las Vegas, Africa, 30 races… Stefano Domenicali discusses the future of F1

As she tackles a record season with 23 Grands Prix this year, the F1 Is she not at the beginning of the madness of grandeur? In any case, this is what the ambitions of the premier category led by Stefano Domenicali suggest.

Despite this busy schedule, to say the least, F1 plans to open its doors to new, or old, destinations such as Las Vegas, where two Grands Prix were held in 1981 and 1982, or Africa which no longer hosted F1 since 1993 and the victory ofAlain Prost with Williams.

« It's not just Las Vegas, says Stefano Domenicali, Chase Carey's successor at the head of F1 since January 2021, during his one-on-one with Sky Sports F1. Other cities are interested in Formula 1. We need to keep a balance and see what other opportunities are there."

Among these opportunities, Africa is the one that comes up most often in recent times. Last year, Stefano Domenicali answered in the affirmative when he was asked about a return of F1 to the African continent almost 30 years after the last South African Grand Prix in Kyalami. Recently, Lewis Hamilton et Charles Leclerc were keen to return to this part of the globe.

« In addition to America, in addition to China, I think there is also a potential to be in Africa soon, continues the Italian. There's a lot of interest there. It is certainly a place that is missing so far in the geography of our calendar »

Extended calendar?

In addition to new or future F1 destinations, the calendar was also discussed during this exchange with Sky Sports F1. A calendar which could easily reach 30 dates according to him as the interest in F1 is great throughout the world even if the idea is not on the agenda. “ I think there is potential to go to 24 races. I would even say that there is a potential to go up to 30, he points out. It's up to us to try to find the right balance by considering which venues would like to be in F1 and which historic destinations we need to have on the calendar. Some promoters have deals that are expiring, and likely some of the current races will no longer be part of the calendar »

However, we will have to wait before seeing a 30-date calendar since the Concord Agreements, which run until 2025, do not allow more than 24 dates to be included in an F1 campaign.

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