Formula 1 is not a sport for the older generations. It could be the title of a film, but it could easily be the beginning of the new season of Drive to Survive, the Netflix series that is perhaps making Formula 1 a little too spectacular, making it look like an artificial product to be showcased. Unfortunately it’s not a joke, this is the idea of the top management of Liberty Media Corporate who have expressed their intention to meet the new generations with a whole series of format changes that can be more captivating for the younger fans of the series.
When we talk about changes to the race weekend we are clearly referring to what could happen in Baku, when the already revolutionized weekend that includes the sprint race could receive further changes with more official sessions and the almost total cancellation of free practice sessions which would be limited to Friday morning only.
F1: sprint race modified to increase revenue
The key is adrenaline: each session will have a higher meaning and will produce some effect on the standings or on the starting grid. The practice sessions will practically be reduced to the one that opens the weekend. FP1 will take place regularly, FP2 will turn into a qualifying session that will determine the starting grid on Sunday. So, free practice two, perhaps the most useful session for defining the race pace and set-up for it, will turn into a qualifying that will have the same format as the one we know today: Q1, Q2 and Q3.
On Saturday morning the old FP3 will become another qualifying round always made up of the classic three sections distributed in an hour of activity and will determine the starting grid of the Sprint Race which will take place in the afternoon. On Sunday we will have the normal grand prix with the list of starters approved two days before
All this framework would therefore have been created to favor the interest of the new generations. The impression that there is something else behind it, i.e. the marketability of the product plus official sessions means more connected users, therefore the price of the product goes up. With sponsors paying more for advertising space and televisions increasing the quota to grab the broadcasting rights.
And it is in this process of enhancing the Formula One brand that what could be a new pro-show initiative fits together, which could debut as early as 2024. To date, the Concorde Agreement, the reference document that regulates the life of Formula 1, establishes that there can be a maximum of 24 grands prix on the calendar.
A quota that should have already been reached this year but target that could not be hit due to the cancellation of the Chinese Grand Prix. Hence that activity break that we are experiencing in these days. Because, we remind you, at the end of this week the sport should have raced in Shanghai.
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China, which has signed a long-term deal with Formula 1, is expected to return next year provided it resolves its pandemic-related issues. If this were the case, the total of 24 races would therefore be re-established but there is something bigger boiling in the pot. Before the Australian Grand Prix weekend, Stefano Domenicali exaggerated by saying that Formula One was ready to hold 32 events because there are many countries requesting it.
Clearly, that of the Italian manager was a comment aimed at making it clear how much Formula One is globally appealing. Obviously, 32 races are impossible with this type of regulation in which power units are limited and in which a rather strict budget cap is applied. So major regulation changes would be needed to enable such a framework to apply.
But, as often happens, if one says certain things it is to make people understand what the direction is. And this seems to be what leads to a further enlargement of the calendar. Not a huge change, the aim is not to reach 32 races, but something that would still provide for the modification of the Concorde Agreement. Something that is not easy to implement but which perhaps meets the desire of the teams themselves to have a few more events.
F1 paves the way for an expanded calendar
If the regulation would be changed, the 2024 Formula One season is ready to extend to 25 or even 26 races. Assuming that the grands prix currently on the calendar will be confirmed (the only doubt is Spa Francorchamps which had obtained an annual renewal which could in any case be extended in the coming months) and imagining that China will rightfully take its place in the list of events, there are two realities that are concretely pushing to see the top racing series on their own systems.
The first is Kyalami, that South African Grand Prix, whose candidacy was also strongly supported by Lewis Hamilton. In this way the sport would truly embrace all continents, which is the clear intention of Liberty Media. The South African circuit could already have been on the calendar this year, but a series of structural elements which it was not possible to comply with, have frozen its candidacy that, however, could be re-proposed for next year. It seems, in fact, that the Formula One diplomats are at work to create this scenario. And with this event we would be at 25.
The twenty-sixth round could emerge from one of these two realities, Portimao on one side and Vietnam on the other. Two weeks ago, Stefano Domenicali was in Portugal, officially to speak with the bosses of Dorna to create a sort of cumulative event in the next few years but on the occasion he also spoke with the managers of the circuit who already this year had tried to plead their case to replace the Chinese Grand Prix.
The other, the Vietnamese one, seems to have the advantage at the moment. The Hanoi street circuit should have made its Formula 1 debut a few years ago was also a victim of Covid. At the moment it is a sort of ghost cathedral which however has concrete possibilities of being reconsidered for the 2024 calendar. The Asian track was a real model to follow for Formula One and for this reason Liberty Media is believing in an almost fideistic way that the event can once again be held.
Formula 1 2024, therefore, could be marked by 25 or even 26 races. Something that clearly meets the growing hunger of an audience that is constantly increasing. Of course, regulation assessments would be necessary both in terms of the technical, sporting and financial aspects, as explained by Diego Catalano for the Italian website FUnoanalisitecnica.
The limits of the budget cap will probably have to be relaxed, allowing the teams a few extra million and probably, on the other hand, allowing the use of a fourth power unit because it currently seems unlikely that three engines can tackle as many as 26 events. Frankly, it is unthinkable that an engine, especially in times of development freezing, can practically compete in nine F1 events without having problems.
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