Why F1 wants to cut French and Belgian GPs for Las Vegas and Kyalami on 2023 calendar

The 2023 F1 calendar looks set to feature the return of the South African GP at Kyalami, in addition to revived races at Shanghai, Las Vegas and Qatar. But there appears to be no room for Paul Ricard or Spa-Francorchamps

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Las Vegas strip F1 race

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This weekend’s visit to Paul Ricard provided a timely reminder that this could be the last French GP for a while.

Along with the Belgian GP the race is not on the provisional 2023 calendar that F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali and his colleagues are in the process of finalising.

Both events come to the end of their current contracts this year, and neither fits the bill in terms of the commercial package they can offer at a time when new venues are queuing up to throw money at the F1 organisation, and thus the teams.

We don’t yet have the full details of what is expected to be a 24-race 2023 schedule, but in essence the races on it will be the same as this year with Ricard and Spa removed, and Las Vegas, Qatar, China and South Africa added.

Lewis Hamilton leads through Eau Rouge at Spa Francorchamps on the first lap of the 2020 Belgian Grand Prix

It’s a driver and fan favourite (last year excepted) but Spa is set for the chop

Lars Baron/Getty Images

There are a few asterisks at the moment, which is why it is still not published. The Kyalami deal is not yet officially done, with commercial terms yet to be agreed, although Domenicali indicated that it was a formality after his visit and meeting with the South African government in June.

China also has to remain provisional, given the delicate state of the Covid situation there, and ongoing restrictions that could make the race impossible. The plan is to shift it towards the end of the year to allow more time for Covid issues to be resolved.

Future of the Monaco Grand Prix

And a question mark still hangs over Monaco. F1 wants a commercial deal that puts it on a par with other events, which means a bigger fee than the current $15m, and full control over track signage and so on, which is not the case at the moment.

One has to assume that an agreement will eventually be reached with Monaco, but if China or South Africa don’t make it, Spa will be first reserve.

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In recent months we’ve seen more and more race deals renewed and extended way into the future, making the situation more precarious for those events that were falling out of contract and don’t have bottomless pockets, which is the case for France and Belgium, notwithstanding their supposed “classic” status.

As noted Spa may yet have a reprieve for 2023, but the vibes from the F1 camp have been generally negative about the place, implying that the huge safety and grandstand changes that the organisers have made to their venue since last year have not helped its status.

Spa at risk despite support from F1 drivers

There has been vague talk about Belgium and France being part of a group of alternating races, but no concrete plan has emerged.

“It would be a big shame to lose Spa,” Max Verstappen said recently. “It’s my favourite track in the world, and also with the recent changes they did to the run-off and stuff. I think it’s just an amazing track in an F1 car, any car to be honest, with all the high-speed corners and the flow it has in general.”

“I think there’s a compromise to be found,” said Carlos Sainz. “Because in the end, I think we all love going to France, to Spa, but at the same time the sport is growing so much that I guess there’s a lot of new places that are, I guess, paying quite a lot of money to be part of Formula 1.

“And it’s difficult, as a business point of view, to say no to that, especially one of the overseas races – Vegas, South Africa, Miami, there’s really interesting new places to go to that I’m in favour of going, but at the same time, we need to keep the calendar under 25 races.

“If not, this is going to go a bit crazy for everyone, even mechanics, engineers, us drivers. It could be too much so new places are welcome, but for sure some others need to fall.”

Kyalami-circuit

F1 is close to a deal on returning to Kyalami in 2023

Studio Milagro/DPPI

2021 Qatar Grand Prix start

F1 first visited Qatar in 2021

Grand Prix Photo

Start-of-the-2019-Chinese-Grand-Prix

China is likely to return post-Covid

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The 2022 French GP is only the fourth race of the five-year Ricard deal signed by Bernie Ecclestone and announced in December 2016, during that curious brief period between the arrival of Liberty Media that autumn, and the ousting of Ecclestone in January 2017.

The race was skipped during the first Covid year in 2020, when – like Wimbledon – the organisers claimed a hefty insurance pay out for not running their event.

This was at a time when other organisers such as Austria and Silverstone were pulling out all the stops to support the sport and run races. One can speculate that the Ricard promoters didn’t do themselves any favours with F1 by taking the option, although to be fair it happened before Domenicali joined.

The race has been absent before – there was a lengthy gap between the last event in Magny-Cours and the return to Ricard – but nevertheless it’s bad news for the sport as a whole, and especially for the Renault Group.

“I don’t know that it is not on the calendar next year,” said Alpine Cars CEO Laurent Rossi. “But yes, I would be very disappointed. And I’m not talking about it as the manager of a French team, or even as a French citizen.

“I think France is a racing stronghold. It’s been giving a lot to the sport. It has a big audience, a big fan base. I think it would be a little bit kind of unfair, I would say, to remove a big milestone like the French GP from the calendar. I think it would be odd but I’m hoping that it will stay.”

Blue skies over Paul Ricard circuit for the 2022 French Grand Prix

Recent Paul Ricard races have been eventful but the track is set to be chopped from the F1 calendar

DPPI

So what is the longer-term future for the French GP? A street race in Nice has been touted as a possible option, although some see that idea as a ploy to put pressure on the Monaco organisers to sign a better deal.

Local hero Esteban Ocon says he has talked to Domenicali about ensuring that his home race will return.

“Of course, F1 has high demand at the moment,” he said at Ricard. “We all know that many different countries are asking for a grand prix to take place in their country. And we can’t be at every place, unfortunately.

“I had a chat with Stefano, and I saw what he said in the press as well. And my point is that, yes, France has a place in F1, we say ‘grand prix’ everywhere we go, and that’s French. And we have a huge motorsport community and car community in general.

From the archive

“And if it’s not in Ricard for the future, then I’m sure there will be other places that would be happy to host the French GP, and if there are conversations going for the future, I will be part of that, and I will push the maximum to make it happen.

“Stefano talked about Nice, which I think would be definitely a great place to have a street circuit. But we also have Le Mans, which is a great venue.”

Ocon visited La Sarthe for last August’s 24 Hours, running some laps in a GT4 car, while his Alpine team mate Fernando Alonso undertook a demonstration run in an F1 car.

It may be a bit of a fantasy, but Alonso did suggest that with suitable preparation F1 really could race at the venue, which has an 8.4-mile lap.

“Of course, the track needs maybe a bit of work for track limits and all these things,” said Ocon.

“I mean, a proper Le Mans race with F1, just as a show, it would be quite impressive, I think.”

Fernando Alonso in Alpine F1 car in front of Le Mans Dunlop bridge

Le Mans winner Fernando Alonso wnet back last year for a demonstration run in his Alpine

Joao Filipe / DPPI

Former World Champion Sebastian Vettel also mentioned Le Mans as a possible alternative venue for the French GP.

“Maybe we can move it to another place in France?,” said the German. “There are exciting tracks. [Magny-Cours] is better than here. But I think it would be nice to go to some older tracks.

“I mean, Le Mans has a lot of history. So that would be maybe a unique place. Could be a long lap, could be very exciting. Dijon, that’s the one I’m thinking of. I have been there, I think in an F3 car. It’s short, but it’s quite nice.”

Regarding other possibilities such as street event in or near the capital Ocon added: “I don’t think around Paris is realistic with the way the people there are running the area, to be fair.

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“I think there are there are some multiple options, street circuits that could work, or nice circuits that could work as well. We have some good tracks. Of course, Magny-Cours is a bit hard to get to.

“I think the more realistic one that I thought about is definitely Le Mans. Le Mans as a French GP would be quite some history. It would be quite awesome.”

Ocon downplayed the suggestion that Nice is a bargaining chip in discussions with Monaco.

“The people organising from here [Paul Ricard], they also have control over Nice. So, I don’t believe it’s just to say thank you, French GP and see you later.

“I think if it’s been mentioned, it means that there’s been some discussions, and people think it could be possible.”

In the end it’s all about money. Will France and/or Belgium ever have enough to make a fulltime return to the schedule? Don’t hold your breath…

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