F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali denies he is ‘selling the soul’ of the sport amid controversial calendar changes

Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has denied that he is ‘selling the soul’ of the sport amid controversial changes to the racing calendar.

While the calendar for 2023 is yet to be revealed, several historic and popular grand prix and circuits are unlikely to make the cut with their places taken by newer races in divisive locations.

At the time of writing, 20 circuits are currently contracted to host a race next year and F1 bosses have previously stated that there can only be a maximum of 24 races in a single season due to logistical constraints.

And with the return of the South African Grand Prix in the pipeline, it is very likely that at least two of Austria, Belgium, France, Mexico, or Monaco will no longer host F1 in the future.

Many drivers have already expressed their discontent with losing the German Grand Prix, a former mainstay on the calendar, and speculation that Belgium and Monaco are the most likely candidates to be discontinued has riled long-time fans, who claim that F1 bosses are just following the money and do not care for the sport’s heritage.

These accusations have been refuted by Domencali, who told Sport Bild: ‘Money is important everywhere, for us too.

‘But we don’t just look at that, the whole package has to be right. If we only looked at the bank account, the racing calendar would definitely look different.

Abu Dhabi

Australia

Azerbaijan

Bahrain

Brazil

Canada

China

Great Britain

Hungary

Imola

Italy

Japan

Las Vegas

Miami

Netherlands

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

Singapore

Spain

USA

‘I’m not selling the soul of Formula 1. This is the normal change. We are opening up to the whole world.’

While F1 has always sought to explore new locations there has been increasing concern over the last few years around the countries F1 has agreed to race