Daniel Ricciardo is all for Formula 1 introducing new tracks to the calendar ahead of this weekend’s inaugural Miami Grand Prix.
Thanks in part to the pandemic, the F1 schedule has had a bit of an overhaul in recent years with historic circuits like Imola, Istanbul and Zandvoort all returning as well as new venues such as Portimao, Jeddah and Qatar.
In the coming years, more new races are planned such as Las Vegas which is already confirmed for 2023 and a return to South Africa is also considered highly likely.
This expansion though is putting pressure on some of F1’s traditional circuits, and Ricciardo believes it is up to owners Liberty Media to strike the right balance.
“Going to new places, I think there’s…call it a double upside,” the McLaren driver was quoted by GPFans.
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“You get to explore, if you’ve never been to that place, a new city, new country, then as a driver, trying to suss out a new circuit and break it down quicker than anyone else.
“That’s something we also enjoy and thrive on. I love getting to a new track and trying to just master it quicker than the others. There is definitely some enjoyment and satisfaction from going to a new venue.
“The flip side is, whether it’s your Monzas or your Spas, your Silverstones, these are tracks we’ve competed at our whole life, so there’s also a lot of history,” he noted. “It’s kind of nostalgic and sentimental to race there.
“I think for those home fans and that crowd, it’s very special to them and there’s probably generations, or whatever, [that] have been going to those exact races at those exact venues.
“So, there’s definitely some special places that I would obviously want to keep continuing to go to, but equally excited to explore new ones.”
Another issue some have raised is the ever-increasing number of street circuits on the calendar with Jeddah, Miami and Las Vegas all held at temporary venues.
And Red Bull driver Sergio Perez believes F1 must make sure that any new circuit offers a challenge to the drivers.
“I think, first of all, it’s great that Formula 1 is growing so much in another continent,” he said of the sport’s growing presence in the US via Motorsport Week.
“It’s a great opportunity for Formula 1, for the sport. I think we will all benefit from it.
“So it’s fantastic, but at the same time it would be good to keep the history within the sport, and we need those historic tracks to always be with us.
“And we have to make sure when we go to new venues, to really have some character on the tracks.
“I felt like some of the new tracks kind of lack a bit of character. So that will be very important.”
Checo also sees another upside to F1’s growing interest across the Atlantic…
“Formula 1 is becoming a bit more American, so definitely a bit closer to Mexico,” he said.
“I might end up living finally at home. So that’s great. It’s great to see how the sport is growing so much in the States, in all of America.”
