Five tracks that could host Formula 1 in coming years
Any country that is any country wants to be part of a coveted club, to be a host of a Formula 1 race weekend.
The 2026 season would have seen 21 countries sharing 24 races – altered to 23 races in 20 countries due to the conflict in Iran – meaning a smidge over 10 per cent of the world’s 193 United Nations-recognised countries hold such a privilege.
Formula 1 flirted, in the form of a short-lived contract or discussions, with the likes of India, South Korea, Vietnam and others but where could the motorsport head next? Here are five of those tracks.
Hockenheim
Germany has produced a number of Formula 1 champions, including the likes of Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher. It is also home to Mercedes, but after financial difficulties at Nurburgring, which shared the hosting rights with Hockenheim, the German Grand Prix has fallen away from the calendar.
But numerous reports have linked Hockenheim with a formula 1 return. “It will definitely happen,” Formula 1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali told Planet F1 recently.
“They are developing the motorsport park there with a different objective. If they want to discuss a possible F1 event, of course the investment needs to be different – because our platform needs to have a different kind of investment. But we have discussed that,” he said.
South Africa
There has long been a desire from many within the sport – including seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton – to see Formula 1 return to the continent of Africa for the first time since 1993.
Alain Prost won the final race on the continent after East London in the same nation and Casablanca had shots at staging the motorsporting championship.
But with the Kyalami track undergoing a renovation many hope its return will be soon. South African sports minister Gayton McKenzie told Morning Wire they were working on it. Morning Wire understands there are no current ongoing talks.
Formula 1’s African preference?
If South Africa is not the desired location to host the return of Formula 1 to Africa, Rwanda has put its hat in the ring.
Its president, Paul Kagame, is a huge Arsenal fan and the government-linked tourism board is now the front-of-shirt sponsor of Aston Villa. A brand-new track near Kigali, at the Bugesera International Airport, is on the cards and it is backed by the president.
Domenicali and FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem have previously said the proposal from Rwanda is a serious one.
Thailand track
Seen as one of the leading bids on the table for a Formula 1 birth, a Grand Prix would take the sport to a new nation in Asia.
Backed by the government, to the tune of around £1bn, a street circuit in the Chatuchak district of Bangkok has been identified as the key site, with a spring or autumn hosting date preferred by organisers.
Formula 1 back in Malaysia?
Malaysia and its Sepang International Circuit was dropped from the Formula 1 calendar a decade ago due to poor ticket sales, despite its layout being popular with fans.
But this year it has stepped in to host the rearranged Bahrain Grand Prix, moved from the Middle East due to the conflict in Iran, and could use the cameo as proof that it still has the mojo to be on the calendar.