Why F1’s calendar could look the same for years as tracks ink long-term deals

When Liberty Media completed its acquisition of Formula One’s commercial rights in 2017, its newly installed management was clear on the sport’s calendar.

Led by then-CEO Chase Carey, F1 regularly used the phrase “destination cities” when pursuing new races. It eyed expansion in markets it felt had previously been underserved, particularly in the United States.

As F1’s fortunes then boomed, so did the demand to host a race. A rush of new events have joined the schedule under Liberty, including the return of Zandvoort in the Netherlands, plus all-new races in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Miami, and, most notably, Las Vegas. They all helped expand the calendar up to the current 24 races. In 2026, Madrid will become another new event, assuming hosting duties for the Spanish Grand Prix.

But F1 has not merely focused on adding shiny new events. Lately, a number of its historic races, some mainstays of the calendar since the world championship began in 1950, have been locked into new, long-term contracts.

Although there is still interest from a number of new countries in joining the calendar in the future — Thailand’s project appears the most advanced, albeit not viable until toward the end of the current decade at the earliest — F1’s calendar will look very similar in 2035 to that of 2025.

Almost one-third of the races on the current schedule are contracted for at least another 10 years. The longest deals, belonging to Miami and Austria, run until 2041; a date so far in the distance that mulling what F1 (and life itself) might look like could easily induce a bout of anxiety.

Fernando Alonso will turn 60 that year. He might’ve even stopped racing by then.

The latest race to get a new contract was Monaco, which F1 announced on September 5 would be staying on the calendar through to 2035. The agreement was signed less than a year after F1 previously announced a renewal of terms with the race, running up to 2031. It is the seventh race to get an extension in 12 months and more will likely follow.

The move to add an extra four years to Monaco’s deal is telling of F1’s new calendar intentions. 

For the majority of race promoters, getting a long-term agreement in place helps planning. It means races can invest properly in facilities, knowing they will be used for grands prix for a long time. When F1 announced Hungary’s new contract through 2032 two years ago, it made a note of highlighting development plans for the new pit building that was completed for this year’s race.

But getting those long-term commitments in place is also welcome news for Liberty’s F1 organization. In a market where demand outpaces supply, shorter agreements would allow flexibility to regularly deal with the highest bidders. Instead, F1 has opted for stability. Of the 24 races on the 2025 schedule, 15 have now contracts that run into the 2030s.

“Today, the vast majority of the deals we have with the promoters are long-term,” F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali told The Athletic in an interview in April. “This is enabling us to build the right platform to grow, for them to build new facilities, to invest in the best fan activation, and also to protect ourselves in the long term.”

Protection is one of the biggest benefits of calendar stability. F1 was rocked by the COVID-19 pandemic starting in 2020, pushing a number of teams to the financial brink that year. It led to a complete rethink over many aspects of the sport, including lowering what was then a still coming cost cap to better foster financial sustainability for the teams. 

It took enormous efforts to reform the calendar, with F1 becoming the first international sport to fully return in July 2020. The traveling circus kept going.

The COVID-19 pandemic canceled many races planned for 2020, including what would’ve been the first Vietnam GP (Nhac Nguyen/AFP/Getty Images)

The memories of that shock mean none of the sport’s current success can be taken for granted. With race promotion fees making up a significant chunk of F1’s $1.35 billion in primary revenue through the first six months of 2025, protecting this consistent income flow well into the next decade only bolsters the sport. 

Around half of F1’s revenue flows back to the teams through prize money payouts each year, meaning if a big chunk of F1’s income is secure and boosted with each new long-term race contract, then so are the teams’ cuts.

That’s not to say F1’s calendar will look exactly the same as it does now in 10 years. With most of the key races locked in, the next challenge for the sport’s leadership is to implement a new plan of race rotation for certain events.

The Belgian GP at Spa is the first race confirmed to rotate moving forward, skipping 2028 and 2030 under its new long-term deal that runs to 2031. Domenicali told The Athletic he wanted “to keep two or three rotational slots, no more,” to provide room for some tracks to alternate should their business model favor that instead of being a permanent fixture on the calendar.

The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which has lost the Spanish Grand Prix to Madrid’s long-term deal (the Spanish capital considered a “destination city”) and will host the last race of its current contract next year, is a track that will likely be in rotation conversation. 

Rotation also leaves room for other European nations, such as Portugal or Germany, to return to the table for talks should a project be seriously pursued. Being confident of that long-term viability is hard for some tracks, something evidenced by the Dutch GP and its upcoming axe from the F1 calendar after 2026, even around the sustained success of home hero Max Verstappen.

Zandvoort’s promoter announced last year it would not be seeking a contract renewal, opting to market next year as a big, final celebration. Reviving the Dutch GP was a success for Liberty, ticking the box for “destination city,” with Amsterdam a 30-minute train ride away. But this year’s race already felt a little flatter than previous editions, in no small part due to Verstappen’s own competitive downturn on track.

Given Verstappen hasn’t suggested he wants a long F1 career, perhaps not even going beyond his existing contract with Red Bull through to 2028, and that the Zandvoort race is privately funded, the current promoters wouldn’t have been able to commit to a lengthy deal with the same confidence as other tracks. 

Lacking the weekend gate far exceeding the 400,000 regularly recorded at Melbourne, Silverstone, or Austin, or the government funding that supports Middle East races and many in other regions, going long-term just wasn’t realistic for Zandvoort.

Domenicali has been clear that he sees the 24-race calendar length as being the right number for F1. This is despite the competing factors of enough demand for a higher number, while many in the paddock feel it’s already too much. 

Although Domenicali has hinted at possible future changes to race weekend formats and adding more sprint races, the current plan for grands prix offers the right mix of long-term security with enough room for new projects to emerge.

But those new races will need to demonstrate the same kind of long-term vision as F1. 

The sport wants to have a meaningful impact in new markets to help continue its growth and prevent events from being one-off white elephants (as the Vietnam Grand Prix, cancelled due to COVID-19 just weeks out from taking place in April 2020 and then scrapped altogether, may well have been). 

It’s for that reason that a return to Africa, while coveted by F1, must be done under the right terms.

Liberty will reach 10 years as F1’s commercial rights holder in 2027, by which time it will have overseen a decade of transformation. Thanks to the recent flurry of new race contracts, the foundations now being laid for its second decade are centered on stability and security — something the sport’s wider ecosystem will welcome.

(Top photo of the start of the 2025 Monaco GP: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto/Getty Images)