Spa-Francorchamps Signs Three-Year Contract Extension with F1

With all the hype around F1 being taken to new venues which will replace older ones, there was a fear existing that traditional circuits may not feature in the near future.

Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium is one of these circuits. But the fear of not having a Belgian Grand Prix next year have been quashed now with reports confirming that Spa has signed a three-year contract extension to remain on the F1 calendar.

Belgian newspaper, L’Echo reported that the deal was signed sometime this week between the local Wallonian government and F1 owners, Liberty Media. This will see the presence of Spa until atleast 2021.

Wallonia vice-president and economy minister, Pierre-Yves Jeholet said, “It is a good deal which ensures that the region of Wallonia retains an event which contributes to the promotion of the region on the world stage.”

“It is also a new era because it is the first time we are negotiating with the directors of Liberty Media. The proceeds for the Wallonian economy were €20.5m in 2017, an increase of 21 percent from 2016”, he added.

In reality, the race suffers annual operating losses which in usual circumstances discourages any organiser to hold future events. But the local Wallonia government has played a huge role in keeping it alive by writing them off.

The economic benefits earned by the region are used for this purpose. The Belgian Grand Prix has seen a rise in Dutch supporters in recent years, partly due to the close proximity between the two nations.

The other reason for this has been the impact of youngster, Max Verstappen. The Dutchman is the son of former F1 driver, Jos Verstappen and has been putting in scintillating performances in the past couple of years.

Reportedly 200,000 tickets have already been sold this year for the F1 race and 75,000 of those have been bought for race day, a number of them being Dutch fans.