F1 reveals "potential" for 30 race season

Las Vegas due to join F1 calendar in 2023 — Photo: © LAT Images

Formula 1

F1 reveals "potential" for 30 race season

The current F1 Concorde Agreement allows for up to 24 races per season

Sam Hall

Wednesday 23 March 2022 12:30

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali believes the sport has the "potential" to expand its calendar to 30 races in the near future.

The 23-race 2022 season is officially the longest in F1's history but with numerous cities and venues interested in joining the calendar, Domenicali revealed the schedule could grow further.

Although F1 terminated its contract with Russia, the 2023 fixture list will contain races in Qatar and China, with Las Vegas also expected to feature.

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With the current Concorde Agreement limiting F1 to 24 races, the addition of these three events will inevitably come at the cost of an existing event unless an alternative solution can be found.

"There is not only Las Vegas, there are other cities that are interested in Formula 1," Domenicali told Sky Sports F1.

"We need to be balanced, we need to see what are the opportunities and then very soon we are going to tell everyone what is our strategy to develop that market.

"Actually, the Concorde Agreement allows us to go to 24 [and] I think there is potential to go to 24.

"I would say there is potential to go to 30 in terms of the interest we see all around the world, but it is up to us to try to find the right balance considering what the new venues are that would like to be in Formula 1 [and] what are the historic venues that need to stay on the calendar.

"F1 has never been so healthy and that is a real sign of the situation of today.

“On top of America, on top of China, I think there is a potential also to be in Africa soon.

“There is a lot of interest there. For sure that’s another area that so far is missing in the geography of our calendar."

F1 teams responsible for personnel welfare

A number of teams have spoken out in recent months against expanding the calendar further, with McLaren suggesting some form of calendar rotation as a compromise.

One reason for this is a concern for the welfare of personnel with more races meaning more time away from family and friends.

"Formula 1 has done a lot to protect the mental health and the way that the people working in Formula 1 have to be protected and I think we have found a good balance," Domenicali added.

"I think that if we move forward, it is the matter of the team to organise themselves to have the rotation maybe to keep the level of people with the right skills at the team.

"I don't think that will be a limiting factor, to be honest. I think that the protection in place, thanks to the attention of the teams and the Formula 1 world, of the people working today is very, very high."