The Formula 1 Calendar ThreadFormula 1 

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It's always down to money, always. It can be offset or complemented by a driver from that country doing well who will bring in extra investment; Max Verstappen single-handedly brought back the Dutch Grand Prix. It wasn't down to any nostalgic or competitive instincts to race at Zandvoort again. Without him, there's no way there'd be a Dutch GP in the 2020s.
 
Liquid
It's always down to money, always. It can be offset or complemented by a driver from that country doing well who will bring in extra investment; Max Verstappen single-handedly brought back the Dutch Grand Prix. It wasn't down to any nostalgic or competitive instincts to race at Zandvoort again. Without him, there's no way there'd be a Dutch GP in the 2020s.
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Max' presence also gave Spa a massively needed financial injection and pretty much saved it for a decade or 2.
 
McLaren
Put 'em in something like Superkarts. They all started their careers in karting, more than enough room to pass, well over 100mph which is fine for Monaco.
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I've been saying this for years.
Monaco provides a visual spectacle unlike any other circuit, but it is obvious to anyone with an IQ more than 12 that it has been unsuitable for F1 for decades. Superkarts would give, spectators a race they want to watch and drivers a race where they all stood a chance of points rather than the lottery we have now where the finish order is decided on Saturday by whoever has the least compromised lap.
 

madring.webp


Even with the novelty of the big banked turn it still looks a very dull track & location. Hopefully it surprises like Miami and the racing is actually good.


Game version of the track for an idea of how it'll go (minus the Kimi-esque track limit abuse :lol:)

 
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I quite like the look of it from the video. High-speed and maximum revs for quite a large part of the lap; could see some mechanical DNFs.
 
We still don't know what the end of the season's calendar will be like. Qatar and Abu Dhabi are at threat if the Ceasefire between USA and Iran doesn't hold, while Bahrain and Saudi could still be slotted back in if F1 can get away with it. However, plans for fallback races are in place, with a second weekend in Vegas, or an extra race at Barcelona and/or Portimao is also an option.

This calendar decision needs to be made before the summer break

www.the-race.com

What you need to know about F1's big 2026 calendar decision

F1 has a fallback option if it needs to find a replacement for the Qatar and Abu Dhabi GPs - but will it need that alternative?
www.the-race.com www.the-race.com

The main issue with going even in the Ceasefire doesn't seem to necessarily be the safety of everyone going - that can be guaranteed - but the insurance premiums that no companies are willing to ensure the entire paddock to visit the Middle East as is.

The fact that the orange manchild is getting bored of the Ceasefire again probably means we could be heading for the cancellation of all Middle East races. We shall see if money talks...
www.bbc.co.uk

Trump threatens Iran and says truce is over, as Iranian official warns of regional retaliation - live updates

The US president is giving a news conference now at the Nato summit in Ankara, Turkey - watch live on this page.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk
 
The current WEC calendar finishes the season in Qatar and Bahrain. With the new flare-up and umpteenth breaking of the Ceasefire over Schrödinger's Strait of Hormuz, a calendar change seems imminent.

The current "set to" and not confirmed change being reported is to finish the season in October and November at Barcelona and Monza respectively.

www.dailysportscar.com

WEC Set To Finish In Europe, Middle East Conflict Continues

WEC Season Set To Finish In Europe As Middle East Conflict Continues
www.dailysportscar.com www.dailysportscar.com


F1 is clearly now in the same position, so it seems odd that they're still trying to shoehorn Bahrain in. Surely, of the four Middle Eastern rounds, Saudi is the one to try and make happen, as it is the one NOT on the Persian Gulf and therefore seems the safest of the four (2022 notwithstanding).

However, as the situation is constantly in a state of superposition and with US midterms approaching and the current incumbent wanting to find another distraction, you can guarantee this mess isn't over, so F1 needs to see reality and cancel all the Middle Eastern races for this year, and also schedule them towards the end of 2027 if they want any chance of hosting them next year too. We await the announcement of what they do. Apparently F1 has to do 22 races to fulfil broadcasting contracts, so there will be a need for a minimum two new races if all four Middle Eastern races are eventually and sensibly cancelled.
 
Jimlaad43
The current WEC calendar finishes the season in Qatar and Bahrain. With the new flare-up and umpteenth breaking of the Ceasefire over Schrödinger's Strait of Hormuz, a calendar change seems imminent.

The current "set to" and not confirmed change being reported is to finish the season in October and November at Barcelona and Monza respectively.

www.dailysportscar.com

WEC Set To Finish In Europe, Middle East Conflict Continues

WEC Season Set To Finish In Europe As Middle East Conflict Continues
www.dailysportscar.com www.dailysportscar.com


F1 is clearly now in the same position, so it seems odd that they're still trying to shoehorn Bahrain in. Surely, of the four Middle Eastern rounds, Saudi is the one to try and make happen, as it is the one NOT on the Persian Gulf and therefore seems the safest of the four (2022 notwithstanding).

However, as the situation is constantly in a state of superposition and with US midterms approaching and the current incumbent wanting to find another distraction, you can guarantee this mess isn't over, so F1 needs to see reality and cancel all the Middle Eastern races for this year, and also schedule them towards the end of 2027 if they want any chance of hosting them next year too. We await the announcement of what they do. Apparently F1 has to do 22 races to fulfil broadcasting contracts, so there will be a need for a minimum two new races if all four Middle Eastern races are eventually and sensibly cancelled.
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F1 probably weighing the $$$ vs safety. I assume rational heads will prevail but you never know.

Racing at Vegas on the 29th will be doable in terms of no conflict with NFL (Raiders are away both the 22nd and 29th). NHL hasn't released schedule yet and they could probably move around any CFB games.
 
If Bahrain are happy to pay for a race at Sepang that Sepang aren't interested in paying to avoid a cancellation fee then that's fine Tbh. We have had multiple Grand Prix named after the wrong country (San Marino, Luxembourg, Switzerland etc) but this is the furthest stretch. We have even had one wrong continent race though as the 2016 European Grand Prix was held in the Asian part of Azerbaijan.
 
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It's the Malaysian Grand Prix. This isn't the Grand Prix of Thesus.
 
Liquid
It's the Malaysian Grand Prix. This isn't the Grand Prix of Thesus.
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Or is it the Trojan Horse Grand Prix?
 
Still not unprecedented, as the Bahrain GP moniker is basically the same as a sponsored title for a race seeing as they're paying for it. I still wouldn't be surprised now if the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix gets held at Imola for example now.

Eurovision in 2023 was hosted by Ukraine but held in Liverpool, once again due to war. It's dumb and an odd statistic, but Sepang just becomes the 14th circuit to have hosted races under multiple names.
 
According to German auto-motor-sport portimao is prime candidate to replace Abu Dhabi/qatar at the end of the season to get to 22 races when both of them get cancelled as well.

Another Rumor (although way less likely) is a Brazil double header
 
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From what I have seen, Portimao has pulled out of being the replacement for the end of the season as the circuit is doing some renovations for 2027 and might not be able to have that delayed by hosting a GP this year, hence why Imola has entered the conversation. Also with Antonelli and Ferrari in with a chance of the championship, Domenicali would love to host the finale in Italy, especially in his home town of Imola
 
It's going to be interesting having a Bahrain Grand Prix about 3750 miles away....

....great to have Malaysia back though!

(I know why it's come to this)
 
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Har1MAS1415
It's going to be interesting having a Bahrain Grand Prix about 3750 miles away....

....great to have Malaysia back though!

(I know why it's come to this)
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2016 European GP at Baku wasn't too far off.
 
toastet
2016 European GP at Baku wasn't too far off.
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Depends where you're coming from in that respect, given that the European Grand Prix has taken place in at least four countries (Azerbaijan, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom). This is excluding the years where the European Grand Prix was an honorary title given to an existing event, rather than a standalone event.

The longest distance in this respect would be Jerez at 3000 miles, though this was nearly 20 years before Azerbaijan even hosted a Grand Prix.
 
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It's being reported by Grand Prix that races in 2027 I'll be about 5% shorter, going from 305km to 290km to allow a higher fuel flow rate without needing to enlarge fuel tanks and redesign chassis'.
 
F1 social media feeds this time next year: "The Italian Grand Prix set a NEW RECORD for the QUICKEST TIME full length Grand Prix IN HISTORY!"

:rolleyes:
 
An interestingly bad article from F1 here, trying to pick 8 of the best first Grands prix for the 78 circuits on the F1 calendar. Recency Bias is being used correctly here yes, aiming to include some of the circuits on the current calendar for relevance for new readers who didn't see previous seasons, but that is then an insult to those who did watch them.
www.formula1.com

8 of the best debut Grands Prix in F1 history

F1 is heading to Madrid to race at a brand-new track this coming weekend, with the hugely exciting Madring set to make its bow as part of the 2026 season.
www.formula1.com www.formula1.com

"With Madring joining the calendar in 2026, which venues have given the fans a first race to remember?"

The races it selected:
  • Las Vegas 2023 - A genuinely good race with a lot of overtaking :greenflag:
  • Miami 2022 - A dull affair which mostly solidified a lot of opinions that this track was awful for racing. it took until 2025 and 2026 for anything remotely looking like a good race happening there. :redflag:
  • Saudi Arabia 2021 - Red Flags for big crashes and the hands-off approach of stewarding in the title battle reared its ugly head here, but it definitely was an unmissable race of that season so yeah, it was a race to remember, if not for the right reasons... :greenflag:
  • Portimao 2020 - Apart from Kimi's opening lap this was just a standard race during COVID rather than one of the chaos races form that season. :redflag:
  • Azerbaijan 2016 - Everything conspired against this being a good F1 race. Rosberg won at a canter after Hamilton crashed in quali and then was victim of the odd team radio ban. This race also had none of the shenanigans we saw in subsequent years because the drivers all agreed to keep it clean after watching the chaos in the GP2 races beforehand. A crazy dull race. :redflag:
  • Turkey 2005 - Genuinely a race I have never watched as for some reason I managed to miss both the first two Turkish GPs. That said, it clearly wasn't such a good race that it was worth me going back to watch it so we'll pass on it being a race to remember. :redflag:
  • Malaysia 1999 - A race dominated by the returning Michael Schumacher playing second fiddle and which was only mostly memorable for the disqualification and reinstating of Ferrari isn't really to do with the track being on its debut. :redflag:
  • Hungary 1986 - Sometimes just one moment is enough to make a race memorable, and the Piquet pass for the lead into turn 1 certainly qualifies. :greenflag:
So realistically only 3/8 of those were good and memorable races worthy of going in.

That said, all the tracks here are on the 2026 or 2027 calendar, so even if I limit it to those tracks, can we come up with 5 better options? Let's see.

  • Albert Park 1996 - Martin Brundle's massive opening lap crash at a corner which would continue to be the scene of the biggest incidents there, then the battle between Damon Hill and debutant Jacques Villeneuve for the win. This is a proper memorable debut.
  • Montreal 1978 - The coldest race in F1 history and a home winner in Gilles Villeneuve for the Québécois.
  • Catalunya 1991 - Just include a picture of Mansell and Senna sparking side-by-side down the start straight and it's already better than the Baku entry.
  • Singapore 2008 - The first ever night race, crashgate, so many other Safety Cars, Massa's disastrous pitstop and the fact that this race is still in the news makes this categorically a more memorable debut race.
  • COTA 2012 - Lots of battles, the Stetson Podium caps presented by Mario Andretti and Hamilton's race-winning pass on Vettel for the return to the USA at a track that impressed all the drivers.

Going past the relevant to this calendar circuits, other more memorable races are:
  • Mugello 2020 - The high-speed circuit was glorious to watch that era of car drive, while the surpringly crash-filled race also drew memorable moments during COVID.
  • Korea 2010 - An instrumental wet race in the amazing title fight that year as Webber crashed out early and Vettel blew up his engine from a certain victory leaving Alonso to win a crash-fest in the descending dark.
  • Donington Park 1993 - A dominant wet-weather victory for Ayrton Senna with so many pitstops due to the changing conditions, a fastest lap set in the pitlane and Sonic trophies.
Any others I have missed, dismissed or just hat you know the story of better?
 
It gets overshadowed by the 1986 title decider but the first Grand Prix in Adelaide in 1985 was a race of high attrition with just eight finishers. I know that retirements were far more common then but just eight finishers meant midfielders fighting for big points. It was Keke Rosberg's final GP win, Ligier secured a double podium and Tyrrell and Arrows also got in the points. There was an in-race disqualification and the mid-section of the race saw the lead change five times in twenty laps.

I can't speak for it myself but the circuit and race were apparently received extremely well at the time.
 
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