A hosting rights contract extension has been agreed between motor racing's Formula 1 (F1) and the organizers of the iconic Belgian Grand Prix, through 2031.
However, the lengthy extension will not see the Spa-Francorchamps race take place every year consecutively during that period - instead, it will be held in four years out of six (2026, 2027, 2029, and 2031). In 2028 and 2030, meanwhile, other venues will take its slot.
This represents the first rotational deal of this kind agreed between F1 and a host venue. Spa-Francorchamps' previous hosting contract had been due to come to an end following the 2025 season.
Spa is one of the F1 calendar's most-loved circuits, having been part of the first-ever season in 1950 and having staged 57 grands prix since. The track, at which Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton took victory in 2024, has the reputation as one of the racing series' fastest, with its last contract extension coming in October 2023.
In terms of other venues with contracts expiring after the 2025 season, the Emilia-Romagna (Northern Italy) and Barcelona Grands Prix are both currently set to be discontinued.
The deal covering the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort runs out after the 2026 edition.
Other European countries that could move in to take the place of the Belgian event in 2028 and 2030 include France, Germany, and Turkey - none of whom have hosted F1 action since 2022.
Non-European possibilities, meanwhile, include an expansion race in central Africa, most likely Rwanda, that would potentially debut in 2028, or a grand prix in Thailand in southeast Asia. F1 has not held a race in Africa since the last South African Grand Prix in Kyalami, north of Johannesburg, in 1993.
The 2025 F1 season, featuring 24 races (the maximum that can be allocated, through the contracts between the 10 teams and F1, is 25), begins in Australia in mid-March and runs through to Abu Dhabi in early December.
The most recent F1 hosting rights extensions came in November with the iconic tracks at Monaco and Monza retained through 2031.
Next year, the Belgian Grand Prix will take place across July 25-27.
