Formula 1: Spa-Francorchamps reaches three-year Belgian Grand Prix deal
By Asher Fair
The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps has secured a three-year contract with Formula 1 to remain on the schedule through at least the 2021 season.
The 19-turn, 4.352-mile (7.004-kilometer) Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Stavelot, Belgium, which hosts the annual 44-lap Belgian Grand Prix, is set to remain on the Formula 1 schedule as the venue of the race through at least the 2021 season.
The track, which is in the final season of its existing contract with Formula 1, secured a new three-year contract with the sport. Belgian newspaper L’Echo reported that the Wallonian regional government signed the contract with Liberty Media, the group that purchased the sport back in January of 2017.
Here is what Wallonia vice president and economy minister Pierre-Yves Jeholet had to say about the matter, according to ESPN.
"“It’s a good deal which ensures that the region of Wallonia retains an event which contributes to the promotion the region on the world stage. It’s also a new era because it’s the first time we’re negotiating with the directors of Liberty Media. The proceeds for the Wallonian economy were EUR20.5 million in 2017, an increase of 21 percent from 2016.”"
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This year’s Belgian Grand Prix is set to take place on Sunday, August 26. It is the 13th race of the 21-race 2018 Formula 1 season, and it is the first race after the season’s “summer break”, which lasts from the Hungarian Grand Prix, which is scheduled to take place on Sunday, July 29, until the Belgian Grand Prix takes place four weeks later.
The 2018 Belgian Grand Prix is set to mark the 12th consecutive season during which the race has been held at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. In fact, in the 33 Formula 1 seasons from the 1985 season to the 2017 season, the Belgian Grand Prix was only not held twice, as it was not held in the 2003 season nor the 2006 season. The race was held at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in each of the other 31 seasons during that 33-year span.
Before the inaugural Formula 1 season took place back in 1950, a total of 11 Belgian Grands Prix were held. Of those 11 Belgian Grands Prix, 10 took place at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps hosted its first Formula 1 race in the sport’s inaugural season. From the 1950 season until now, the Belgian Grand Prix has only not been held in six seasons. Of the 62 Belgians Grand Prix that have been held since Formula 1 began, 50 have taken place at the track.
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Are you excited to see the Belgian Grand Prix remain at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps for at least the next three Formula 1 seasons? Do you believe that the race will continue to be held at the historic venue for several seasons after the 2021 season as well?