Belgian Grand Prix: Race returns to formula 1 calendar in 2023
- Published
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The Belgian Grand Prix has secured its place on the 2023 Formula 1 calendar with a new one-year contract.
The race at historic Spa-Francorchamps had been vulnerable as F1 juggled its options, but has secured a reprieve.
An F1 statement said: "Formula 1 can confirm that the Belgian GP will be on the 2023 calendar following an agreement to extend our partnership."
But F1 wants evidence organisers are willing to make significant investment to secure its longer-term future.
F1 feels the facilities and infrastructure have become anachronistic and wants them upgraded to modern standards.
There is particular focus on the event's traffic management and paddock.
Traffic has long been a problem at Spa-Francorchamps because it is in a relatively isolated location in the Ardennes mountains and has limited access roads.
But a new traffic-management plan instigated for this year's race, in which the organisers had invested much hope, appeared to make little difference to delays around the event.
The track had its largest ever attendance this year at 360,000 fans, but there is a belief that more could be done to prevent the traffic issues.
Equally, F1 wants to see significant improvements inside the circuit, particularly around the paddock.
Among the problems is that it is on two levels joined by an intimidating metal staircase that some F1 insiders have dubbed the 'stairs of death'.
Access from the car parks for F1 personnel, VIPs and media into the paddock is also only via car, which runs counter to F1's sustainability plans as it seeks to net-zero carbon by 2030.
F1 is sensitive to the value of Spa in terms of its history and the quality of the circuit itself, but is determined for changes to be made and is prepared to axe the event beyond 2023 if they are not.
F1 chairman and chief executive officer Stefano Domenicali said in the days before the race: "There is a lot of respect for these (historic) places. Belgium, there were some years when it was not on the calendar, memories are short.
"It is a great place but that's why we are discussing (the future). At Monza (in September), it will be 100th year celebration of the Italian GP, but as an Italian I always said to them: 'You need to make sure the history is not enough, you need to invest for a great future.
"They need to update to a place that is iconic. There is the need to look ahead.
"These places will always be part of the discussion for the future but, from their side, it cannot be taken for granted that if you do nothing you will always be there."
Talks over a return to the Kyalami circuit in South Africa have reached an impasse for now.
Domenicali has been working on hard to secure a race in Africa and describes Kyalami as "the most likely to place to have one".
But he wants to be sure the commercial package around the race is sustainable and that once it is on the calendar, it is secure. And talks broke down over a lack of confidence in the local promoter in South Africa.
Talks are underway to try to find a new one in which the various stakeholders are more confident.