Belgian GP boss makes striking claim over F1 calendar
Belgian Grand Prix boss Melchior Wathelet has claimed that F1 is seeking to hold only eight grands prix in Europe moving forwards.
Spa-Francorchamp’s old contract expired at the end of the 2025 season, meaning the race in July was planned to be the final event at the iconic circuit, before it agreed new terms with F1 until the end of 2031.
However, Spa is only set to be on the calendar for four of those six seasons, dropping away in 2028 and 2030 as F1 begins to explore bi-annual rotation of races.
A potential solution to see the Belgian and Dutch GP rotate was ended when Zandvoort announced it would drop off the calendar after 2026, leaving Europe with just seven confirmed races for 2027.
These would be the Austrian, Belgian, British, Hungarian, Italian, Monaco and Spanish GPs, with Madrid set to take over hosting duties from Barcelona for 2026, although the Catalunya circuit does retain a contract for 2026.
The current contract for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix is due to expire after the 2025 race.
When Spa begins its rotation in 2028, it would leave potentially as few as six European races on the calendar, unless a new venue steps in to fill the void.
Reflecting on the news of the contract extension, Wathelet explained how F1 was targetting as few as eight European rounds.
“It was difficult to sign a permanent contract for a long period,” he told Sporza.
“The compromise was therefore an exchange from 2028, possibly with the circuit in Barcelona.
“It is also not certain that there will be no GP in Belgium in 2028 and 2030. The spirit of the agreement states that there will be at least 4 races. Maybe it will be up to another country, maybe Belgium.”
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Belgian GP contract renewal
Spa is believed to be paying around €25 million to host F1 races, which is at the lower-end of the race hosting fees.
Venues such as Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are believed to be paying over €50 million per year.
As such, an increase in Spa’s race hosting fees was expected, as Wathelet detailed the “reasonable” increase in Spa’s price.
“The amount is higher from 2026, but it is an increase of 3 to 4%, we thought that was reasonable,” he added.
“It is a reasonable inflation, which we think we can recover.
“The intention is to limit [the involvement of the local government] as much as possible.
“In recent years, their contribution has even decreased, while the return on investment for the region and the country has increased. So that seems to me to be a reasonable investment.”
