Sign up now!!! <\/a><\/p>\n\u201cWe would like to express our gratitude to Formula 1 for the trust placed in the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and in the region over all these years,\u201d he said. \u201cThis renewal is the result of a strong relationship and close collaboration and represents a very important step in further consolidating Catalonia as a key fixture on the international calendar.<\/p>\n
\u201cFormula 1 generates an economic impact of more than \u20ac300 million per edition, but above all it is a strategic event that helps project Catalonia worldwide as a country capable of hosting top-level sporting competitions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Drivers walk away from two fiery crashes | 01:21<\/p>\n
WHY ALTERNATE?<\/p>\n
The trajectory of Formula 1\u2019s growth has long been outside of Europe, though the sport hasn\u2019t been totally numb to the need to service its heartland continent.<\/p>\n
But with the calendar maxed out by consensus at 24 grands prix, the only way to add new venues is to squeeze some existing races into rotating deals.<\/p>\n
New races outside of Europe tend to be supported by regional or national governments willing to cough up big bucks to get themselves a spot in the Formula 1 limelight.<\/p>\n
Contrastingly, very few European events are backed by public funding, and they are therefore unable or unwilling to keep up with Formula 1\u2019s escalating fee demands. The Dutch Grand Prix, for example, will bow out at the end of this season owing to the cost of hosting a race.<\/p>\n
The Netherlands had been tipped to enter the alternating agreement with Belgium before organisers announced they would be leaving the sport.<\/p>\n
Zandvoort\u2019s decision to quit was likely crucial to Barcelona\u2019s retention. Domenicali has talked about the end of the days of European nations hosting multiple grands prix given the pressure on the calendar, but this new deal secures Spain two races a year three times in the next six seasons.<\/p>\n
The United States stands as the only other exception. The Las Vegas Grand Prix is owned and operated by F1, while the Miami Grand Prix is a joint venture with local organisers. North America is still under-represented in terms of races per capita relative to Europe and the Middle East.<\/p>\n
Formula 1 has entertained a rotating contract only once before \u2014 in 2008\u201314, when the N\u00fcrburgring and Hockenheimring took turns hosting the German Grand Prix.<\/p>\n
Both were creaking under the financial burden of hosting Formula 1. N\u00fcrburg was the first to collapse, leaving the calendar after its 2013 event save for a one-off appearance as the Eifel Grand Prix during the pandemic.<\/p>\n
Hockenheim hosted three more races, in 2016, 2018 and 2019 \u2014 the last was funded by Mercedes to ensure it had a home race to celebrate its 125th year of motorsport \u2014 before also falling off the calendar.<\/p>\n
Huge crash reigns chaos at Bathurst | 03:11<\/p>\n
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE CALENDAR?<\/p>\n
Intriguingly, despite what appeared to be a logjam in the calendar in recent years, confirmation that Barcelona will begin alternating with Belgium from next year leaves a place open on the 2027 calendar.<\/p>\n
Madrid\u2019s arrival this year as the host of the Spanish Grand Prix effectively replaces the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in Imola, which hosted its last race last season.<\/p>\n
The Portuguese Grand Prix, which secured a shock 2027 return on a two-year deal late last year, effectively replaces Zandvoort from next season.<\/p>\n
But Barcelona effectively being absorbed into the Belgian Grand Prix\u2019s calendar slot means the schedule is back down to 23 races from 2027.<\/p>\n
Formula 1 appeared close to agreeing to a deal with Bangkok for the Thai Grand Prix, with the national government agreeing in the middle of last year to a multibillion-dollar plan to host a street race in the capital.<\/p>\n
But the deal was done during Paetongtarn Shinawatra\u2019s brief term as prime minister, and there has been little comment about the race\u2019s prospects from successor Anutin Charnvirakul, from the rival Bhumjaithai Party, though MotoGP recently had its contract to race in Buriram extended.<\/p>\n
The sport has also been pursuing a race in Africa, with two bids in South Africa and one in Rwanda vying for the slot.<\/p>\n
A government-backed Rwanda bid appears the most mature, but organisers told the Athletic that they wouldn\u2019t be ready until 2029 at the earliest.<\/p>\n
Rumours of a revival of the Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul could prove the solution, with Autosport reporting the race \u2014 which was last used during the pandemic in 2020\u201321 but has been otherwise absent since 2012 \u2014 is a strong contender to fill the vacancy.<\/p>\n
F1 contracts expiring<\/p>\n
2026: Netherlands*<\/p>\n
2027: Las Vegas<\/p>\n
2028: Mexico City, Portugal, Singapore<\/p>\n
2029: Japan<\/p>\n
2030: Abu Dhabi, Azerbaijan, China, Sao Paulo, Saudi Arabia<\/p>\n
2031: Belgium, Italy <\/p>\n
2032: Hungary, Qatar, Barcelona<\/p>\n
2034: Great Britain, United States (Austin)<\/p>\n
2035: Canada, Monaco, Spain (Madrid)<\/p>\n
2036: Bahrain<\/p>\n
2037: Australia<\/p>\n
2041: Austria, Miami<\/p>\n
*not renewed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Barcelona has secured a contract extension that will have it alternate with the historic Belgian Grand Prix until…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":484903,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[944,6074,2620,2095,1724,64,63,689,18503,3159,961,937,2071,86622,2065,2791,512,11241,45893,9239,11301,2057,245539,115884,245536,245551,817,245544,245546,22756,2755,813,816,841,14211,245537,84708,245550,939,245548,41073,941,2623,2557,245543,2184,23956,5140,245538,245541,2627,2041,2067,677,18766,2333,245549,245540,7722,245542,12022,99083,245545,87107,14640,1183,18780,3595,2020,85,52474,245547,245552,940,36719,2614,12000,2062],"class_list":{"0":"post-484902","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-abu-dhabi","9":"tag-africa","10":"tag-agence-france-presse","11":"tag-america","12":"tag-asia","13":"tag-au","14":"tag-australia","15":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","16":"tag-australian-driver","17":"tag-austria","18":"tag-azerbaijan","19":"tag-barcelona","20":"tag-belgium","21":"tag-bhumjaithai-party","22":"tag-canada","23":"tag-central-america","24":"tag-china","25":"tag-contract-extension","26":"tag-eastern-africa-sub-saharan-africa","27":"tag-eastern-asia","28":"tag-eastern-europe","29":"tag-europe","30":"tag-european-events","31":"tag-european-nations","32":"tag-european-race","33":"tag-event-save","34":"tag-f1","35":"tag-fantastic-fan-festivals","36":"tag-fee-demands","37":"tag-final-sector","38":"tag-florida","39":"tag-formula-1","40":"tag-formula1","41":"tag-grand-prix","42":"tag-grands-prix","43":"tag-heartland-continent","44":"tag-home-race","45":"tag-hospitality-venue","46":"tag-hungary","47":"tag-international-calendar","48":"tag-istanbul","49":"tag-japan","50":"tag-las-vegas","51":"tag-madrid","52":"tag-maxime-martin","53":"tag-mexico","54":"tag-mexico-city","55":"tag-miami","56":"tag-mikael-grenier","57":"tag-multiple-grands-prix","58":"tag-nevada","59":"tag-north-america","60":"tag-northern-america","61":"tag-oceania","62":"tag-one-off-appearance","63":"tag-oscar-piastri","64":"tag-place-open","65":"tag-pol-gibert","66":"tag-portugal","67":"tag-positive-contribution","68":"tag-province-of-barcelona","69":"tag-province-of-madrid","70":"tag-races-outside","71":"tag-rwanda","72":"tag-saudi-arabia","73":"tag-south-africa","74":"tag-southern-africa","75":"tag-southern-europe","76":"tag-spain","77":"tag-sports","78":"tag-stefano-domenicali","79":"tag-street-race","80":"tag-top-level-sporting-competitions","81":"tag-turkey","82":"tag-two-year-deal","83":"tag-united-states-of-america","84":"tag-western-asia","85":"tag-western-europe"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=484902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/484903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=484902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=484902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n