Hi friends,
Winter is coming, and living in Denmark that means it’s dark when I get up in the morning and it’s dark when I get home from work in the afternoon. If someone has a bit of sunlight to spare, can you send it my way?
Top story of the week: Kyalami in South Africa commits to upgrading the circuit to Grade 1, in a bid to host Formula 1
Kyalami has been on the F1 calendar before, hosting the South African GP from 1967 to 1985, and then a short break, before returning for another stint in 1992 and 1993 – but when the promotor went bankrupt leading in to the 1994 season, the circuit was removed from the calendar and has yet to return.
While it’s not exactly news that Kyalami is working towards a return to Formula 1, it’s a good excuse to talk about the season calendar – and especially, how we are at risk of losing some of the classic venues currently on the calendar.
Why is this important? Well, the return of a circuit like Kyalami, or the addition of new locations like Miami, Jeddah and Madrid, means that historical circuits are under pressure to secure their spots on the calendar.
We’ve already seen races like Hockenheim and Nürburgring drop off the calendar more or less permanently, and in recent years there have been persistent rumours that circuits like Silverstone or Spa were struggling to find the means to remain on the calendar, due to a lack of investment and the ever increasing fees required by F1 to host their events.
F1 has always been a money game – where teams, drivers and races went where the money was, and it very much still is. But with F1’s current focus on maximising organising fees and expanding the calendar, the risk of losing the classic locations is a very real one – especially with rumours of several new locations putting in bids for new additions to the calendar.
I hope that the people in power at Formula 1 realise the value and significance of preserving the link to decades of F1 history, and retain the classic circuits on the calendar.
Monaco can go, but that’s an entirely different discussion! And on that bombshell…
Here are the rest of the stories this week:
- Sauber announced Iñaki Rueda as their new Sporting Director from 2025
- Max Verstappen will have a 5 place grid penalty for taking a new engine in Brazil
- Multiple high-profile individuals in the paddock have been contacted by investigators looking into the rejection of Andretti
- Honda and Renault found in procedural breach of the 2026 Power Unit Cost Cap, and will pay a $600,000 and $400,000 fine respectively
- Formula 1’s driving standards to change following meeting between the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association and F1 Race Director Niels Wittich
- Lewis Hamilton will drive Ayrton Senna’s MP4/5B at a tribute event in Brazil
- The F1 Exhibition in London has been extended until March 2nd 2025
- Yuki Tsunoda will test the RB20 at the end-of-season test in Abu Dhabi
- Both Formula E pre-season testing and the MotoGP race in Valencia are in doubt, after flooding in the area
- Jenson Button’s Radford Motors Files for Bankruptcy
- The Iron Dames will take part in the WEC Rookie Test in Bahrain with Manthey Racing
- Sophia Flörsch will test with HMD Motorsports in IndyNXT
That’s it for this week. Until next time, thank you for being here.
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