Future F1 calendar

[dr-baker]

Liberty Media are reviewing the F1 calendar going forward, and to be able to squeeze in as many countries as possible, there may be one champion every four years, just like the football World Cup or the Olympic Games. This would be as a result of the following countries being the calendar at that point: https://youtu.be/RN8-JSSVO_0?si=Yqko29LYDFNn_DNW

As that would be the calendar, there would be a Grand Prix literally every single weekend, except for Christmas and New Year.

[Forti]

So glad to hear that the Korean and Indian GPs are coming back.

In other news, FOM has posted a video confirming the return of non-championship races https://youtu.be/mo6Ydw9x9dE?si=K3Sn91k8nhV8k-oz

[mario]

So glad to hear that the Korean and Indian GPs are coming back.

In other news, FOM has posted a video confirming the return of non-championship races https://youtu.be/mo6Ydw9x9dE?si=K3Sn91k8nhV8k-oz

The thing is, given so many things have been suggested over the years, you'll probably find that something raised as a joke now is something that was discussed in a serious manner in the past.

We might joke about it now, but it is worth remembering that Ross Brawn did actually suggest the possibility of reintroducing non-championship races to trial new race formats as a serious proposition when he was at Liberty Media. Similarly, when there were the first discussions about the concepts that resulted in the sprint race format, Horner did put forward the proposal for some trial events to be held as non-championship events to test some of the different proposals being put forward for consideration (such as reverse grid races).

[Spectoremg]

Sprinklers anyone?

[dr-baker]

Sprinklers anyone?

That was one of Bernie's ideas, wasn't it?

[noiceinmydrink]

Paul Ricard has sprinklers - we should hold all 24 rounds on that circuit. Same layout and all.

[mario]

Sprinklers anyone?

That was one of Bernie's ideas, wasn't it?

It was, but it seems that was more of a case of Bernie saying something to generate attention, rather than having something serious to say.

[Bleu]

Paul Ricard has sprinklers - we should hold all 24 rounds on that circuit. Same layout and all.

I believe the sprinklers are only in the short version (from the start/finish straight drivers must turn right to Mistral straight) of the circuit.

[Jarvis]

So glad to hear that the Korean and Indian GPs are coming back.

In other news, FOM has posted a video confirming the return of non-championship races https://youtu.be/mo6Ydw9x9dE?si=K3Sn91k8nhV8k-oz

How soon are you expecting these races to happen?

[noiceinmydrink]

I believe the sprinklers are only in the short version (from the start/finish straight drivers must turn right to Mistral straight) of the circuit.

Yes! Mandate tyre changes in the middle of each lap for the variable conditions! Yes!

How soon are you expecting these races to happen?

You may want to check the date of the post my friend

[dr-baker]

I believe the sprinklers are only in the short version (from the start/finish straight drivers must turn right to Mistral straight) of the circuit.

Yes! Mandate tyre changes in the middle of each lap for the variable conditions! Yes!

I sometimes wonder what current F1 would do if there was a return to really old school tracks, like the Manx TT Mountain course or the 1906 French GP track.

[mario]

I believe the sprinklers are only in the short version (from the start/finish straight drivers must turn right to Mistral straight) of the circuit.

Yes! Mandate tyre changes in the middle of each lap for the variable conditions! Yes!

I sometimes wonder what current F1 would do if there was a return to really old school tracks, like the Manx TT Mountain course or the 1906 French GP track.

As an aside, whilst some longer circuits were used in Formula 1 in the 1950s and 1960s, there are only four circuits that were 10km or longer used - Pescara (the longest, at 25.579km, the Nordschleife, at 22.835km, Spa-Francorchamps, at 14.120km, and finally Monza's 10.000km).

I suppose it does raise an interesting question though - from a practical perspective, what might be the longest circuit that could actually feasibly host a race today? The FIA does recommend an upper limit on circuit length of 7km, no doubt chosen as that ties in with the length of the modern Spa-Francorchamps circuit, but I wonder how much further they could stretch that if they wanted to.

[Row Man Gross-Gene]

Yes! Mandate tyre changes in the middle of each lap for the variable conditions! Yes!

I sometimes wonder what current F1 would do if there was a return to really old school tracks, like the Manx TT Mountain course or the 1906 French GP track.

As an aside, whilst some longer circuits were used in Formula 1 in the 1950s and 1960s, there are only four circuits that were 10km or longer used - Pescara (the longest, at 25.579km, the Nordschleife, at 22.835km, Spa-Francorchamps, at 14.120km, and finally Monza's 10.000km).

I suppose it does raise an interesting question though - from a practical perspective, what might be the longest circuit that could actually feasibly host a race today? The FIA does recommend an upper limit on circuit length of 7km, no doubt chosen as that ties in with the length of the modern Spa-Francorchamps circuit, but I wonder how much further they could stretch that if they wanted to.

The length of Spa is one of the things I like about it and I wouldn't mind if there were some even longer tracks on the calendar. I suspect logistics will keep that from happening, as a longer track probably requires more marshals and barriers and other track infrastructure.

[dr-baker]

I personally would like to see an F1 car try the Manx TT Mountain course, but I know it's realistically impossible if for no other reason than Ballaugh Bridge.

[Row Man Gross-Gene]

I personally would like to see an F1 car try the Manx TT Mountain course, but I know it's realistically impossible if for no other reason than Ballaugh Bridge.

How long is that course?

[dr-baker]

I personally would like to see an F1 car try the Manx TT Mountain course, but I know it's realistically impossible if for no other reason than Ballaugh Bridge.

How long is that course?

37.73 miles.

And here is a video of an onboard of a lap of the TT (17 minutes):
https://youtu.be/31RZ5wU-Fg0?si=WKJxJERqGgt2A0NE

[mario]

I sometimes wonder what current F1 would do if there was a return to really old school tracks, like the Manx TT Mountain course or the 1906 French GP track.

As an aside, whilst some longer circuits were used in Formula 1 in the 1950s and 1960s, there are only four circuits that were 10km or longer used - Pescara (the longest, at 25.579km, the Nordschleife, at 22.835km, Spa-Francorchamps, at 14.120km, and finally Monza's 10.000km).

I suppose it does raise an interesting question though - from a practical perspective, what might be the longest circuit that could actually feasibly host a race today? The FIA does recommend an upper limit on circuit length of 7km, no doubt chosen as that ties in with the length of the modern Spa-Francorchamps circuit, but I wonder how much further they could stretch that if they wanted to.

The length of Spa is one of the things I like about it and I wouldn't mind if there were some even longer tracks on the calendar. I suspect logistics will keep that from happening, as a longer track probably requires more marshals and barriers and other track infrastructure.

I do agree that, from a logistical perspective, Spa-Francorchamps probably is pretty close to the practical upper limit in terms of circuit length. Not only do the number of people that would be needed to support the event (from marshals through to maintenance workers) and material requirements start becoming increasingly onerous, the infrastructure to support the circuit starts becoming onerous too (for example, getting spectators or maintenance workers around the circuit).

I believe that, during the pandemic, The Bend Motorsport Park, which does have one configuration that is 7.7km in length, did offer itself up as a possible venue for the Australian GP. The venue currently only has a Grade 2 FIA licence, although they did state that the track was designed with the possibility of being upgraded to Grade 1 status.

Now, there was some debate about how serious a proposition that was - it was a somewhat speculative offer, and from a practical perspective, the poor transport infrastructure and lack of nearby accommodation would probably have also been major showstoppers. Furthermore, the 7.7km layout doesn't seem to be used for major races on a regular basis - it did once hold an Asian Le Mans 4 Hour race back in 2020, but doesn't seem to have had much use outside of that.

Whilst noting that, in practice, the chances of it happening are zero, given that it suggests there is the theoretical possibility that a circuit of that length might be able to reach Grade 1 status and hold an F1 race, I guess that the potential upper limit for circuit length would lie in the bracket of around 7.5 - 8.0km.

[dr-baker]

It is also worth considering that a 17-minute lap time as on Isle of Man would not lend itself well to the current F1 qualifying format, implying a maximum plausible lap time. Also one could not envision doing a 37.73 mile parade lap at the start of the race, having already done another 37.73 miles coming out of the pits.ro the grid.

Original Nurburgring may be too long by modern standards. Maybe Le Mans (not Bugatti, but the endurance race configuration)?

[mario]

It is also worth considering that a 17-minute lap time as on Isle of Man would not lend itself well to the current F1 qualifying format, implying a maximum plausible lap time. Also one could not envision doing a 37.73 mile parade lap at the start of the race, having already done another 37.73 miles coming out of the pits.ro the grid.

Original Nurburgring may be too long by modern standards. Maybe Le Mans (not Bugatti, but the endurance race configuration)?

I might be mistaken, but I have a recollection that they would not do a full formation lap for the Nordschliefe when that track was used in Formula 1, and possibly when Group C sportscars raced there too (I might be wrong, but I have a feeling that I read somewhere that they would use one of the service roads to cut out part of the track). I suppose that it might be technically feasible to employ a similar solution, although in reality it's almost certainly completely impractical.

As for whether the Circuit de la Sarthe might be feasible - that is a good question. On the one hand, because the circuit holds the 24 Hours event, the infrastructure is fairly well developed and they are better equipped than most circuits for high performance vehicles. On the other hand, access for marshals is still a bit problematic in certain parts of the circuit, despite improvements in recent years to try and address some of those issues, and the ACO has had difficulty in getting some parts of the circuit to meet the FIA's requirements for a Grade 2 circuit, let alone Grade 1 (Tertre Rouge was a problem for a few years, as there were problems with repositioning some of the barriers).