F1’s global popularity puts classic European GPs at risk of being dropped

With Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix the final fly-away meeting of the spring, Formula One is about to enter its European leg proper. But the sport’s very popularity may now be putting at risk some of those classic races in what was considered F1’s heartland.

As ever following the money, F1 is signing more expensive and longer deals with circuits. But given there are a finite number of slots available on the calendar, something has to give.

This past week, the F1 CEO, Stefano Domenicali, travelled to meet with the organisers of a proposed South African Grand Prix at the Kyalami circuit. No official word has been made as yet but there is clear expectation that South Africa will be added to the calendar in 2023. It will be a welcome return, with F1 having not held a meeting in Africa since Kyalami hosted its last GP in 1993 and with drivers including Lewis Hamilton expressing a firm belief the sport should have a presence in Africa.

Then, on Thursday, F1 said it had signed a new deal for the Australian GP to be hosted at Melbourne until 2035, a 10-year extension on their current contract to 2025. It is the second-longest deal after F1’s recent contract with Bahrain that extends until 2036 and is indicative of the type of business F1 is now concluding.

A contract with Saudi Arabia is worth a reported £50m per meeting for more than a decade. Qatar will begin its 10-year deal next season, having paid similar money. At the end of last year Abu Dhabi renewed its contract until the end of the decade, while Miami’s debut this year was its first in a 10-year deal.

The surge in interest in F1 is one the sport’s owners welcome but it comes at a cost. The maximum number of meetings that can be held under the current commercial agreement