Formula 1 teams and drivers have spoken positively about the possibility of rotating some races on the calendar beyond 2020.
Due to Covid-19, the sport has had to implement a very different schedule to the originally planned 22-race season, including multiple rounds at one circuit for the first time in F1 history.
Also, this year will see races at five circuits that have either not previously hosted a Grand Prix or are returning after a lengthy absence from the calendar.
And after the first of those new venues last weekend at Mugello, the response was very positive with every driver voicing a wish for F1 to return in the future.
“If we thought Monza was the race of the season, then Mugello might have just beaten it,” Renault’s Esteban Ocon, wrote in his Formula1.com column.
“A lot happened and, again, you can’t predict any result from anybody or how the race can turn out.”
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Also commenting on the inaugural race at the Italian circuit, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff noted the challenge it provided for teams.
“This is an interesting new concept that was born out of necessity,” he said via Motorsport-Total.com. “It’s interesting
“You can see that the performances differ significantly from tracks that we have been to many times.
“We go to Silverstone every year, therefore there is not much that you can optimize with creativity or flexibility in thinking because we have been there so often.”
Still to come is the return of three historic tracks at Nurburgring, Imola and Istanbul as well as Portimao’s debut holding the Portuguese Grand Prix.
Also, F1 will use the oval-like Outer Circuit in Bahrain for the first time as part of the doubleheader later this year, and all these new races have Daniel Ricciardo excited.
“Looking forward we have got Nürburgring, Istanbul, I won’t name them all but I think it is going to be fun,” said the Australian via Motorsport Week.
“It’s a bit of an unknown for a few of us. Even [at Mugello] learning the track on Friday, I drove it many years ago but learning it in a faster car is cool.
“You try and pick up some lines and some tricks, and that whole process of learning is really fun.”
Ocon added: “Thanks to F1 for bringing those tracks this year. It was probably the right year to try stuff like that.
“It is definitely enjoyable and it was very cool to be racing [at Mugello] and there are many more [circuits] that we are going to discover this year.”
But with the 13 races that have been cancelled this year due to Covid-19 all set to return next year, how could the tracks added this year be included in a future calendar?
Well, one idea put forward is to create a European GP that could move venue each year, while the other is to create what Red Bull boss Christian Horner called “invitational” races to open it up to any circuit worldwide.
“It is great that F1 is going to these different venues and we have some more coming up in Istanbul and Imola,” he commented.
“It keeps up the competition for a place for one of the 22 slots on the calendar and I think it would be good to have some sort of invitation race once a year to take in these different tracks.”