Three future F1 races? With Miami joining the calendar in 2022, where should F1 head next?
By Jack Lacey-Hatton
The Formula One Calendar seems to only expand year-on-year as the sport moves into new countries with ease.
The 2008 schedule featured 18 different Grand Prix’s. By contrast the upcoming 2022 season will feature 23, a gruelling slog from mid-March to the November season closer in Abu Dhabi, admittedly earlier than the 2021 finale that saw Max Verstappen dramatically beat Lewis Hamilton.
Miami is the latest addition, the second American Grand Prix following the traditional race in Texas.
Of course the schedule could be altered by further pandemic restrictions, but as it stands we have a swelled calendar.
However, this won’t quench F1 bosses thirst to take the Championship to new horizons.
So where should the sport head next? Let’s take a look at three possible locations.
New York City
A street Grand Prix around New York City has long been a dream of Formula One supremoes although it presents obvious logistical challenges.
But seeing the pinnacle of motor racing in the big apple would be an incredible sight and if the sport’s bosses can somehow make it happen they should.
A race in New York became a serious plan in 2011, titled ‘the Grand Prix of America’ set to be part of the 2013 Championship.
The 3.2 mile circuit was to be held in New Jersey with the NYC skyline as a backdrop and only the Hudson River separating the city from the drivers.
It never quite became reality, and was dropped from all provisional season calendars in 2016.
Taking a Grand Prix to one of the few backdrops that could rival Monaco for glamour, would be a bold but potentially brilliant move.
New Zealand
A left-field suggestion, but giving the sport a second Oceania race would be a boost to the sport’s global appeal.
Every year we see the passion of the Australian fans in Melbourne, in what has become an iconic F1 venue.
Maybe now is the time to give New Zealand the same chance, by adding the country to the regular circuit.
The New Zealand Grand Prix is actually already in existence, albeit not as a World Championship race.
Currently run as part of the Toyota Racing Series, it was won by current McClaren star, Britain’s Lando Norris back in 2016.
With an infrastructure already in place, it wouldn’t be difficult to bring Formula One to the country and hold the race close to the Australian GP in the schedule.
Africa
Perhaps not an entirely new location, as Formula One has been to both South Africa and Morocco in the past.
But, in 2022, it doesn’t feel right for a truly worldwide sport to not touch a whole continent.
Let alone a continent as culturally diverse as Africa.
Bringing a Grand Prix to, for example, Lagos in Nigeria (Africa’s second largest city by population) would send out a message that owners of the sport Liberty Media Corp are genuinely intent on delivering top-class racing to every corner of the earth.
Africa is something of an un-tapped market for F1, and although not an obvious choice, bringing a championship race to the continent would hopefully engage a whole new audience.
A Nigerian or Egyptian event in particular could prove be a smart choice.
It would also be refreshing to see the sport stakeholders not solely following the money, but actually trying a build something for the next generation of Formula One fans and impact on the sport’s history in a positive manner.
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