The French Grand Prix is considering a rotation in the calendar
Being one of these Grand Prix races under threat after 2022, the French Grand Prix is being considered for a possible rotation in the calendar to keep the event every other year.
After 10 years of absence, the Grand Prix of France returned in 2018. Not to Magny-Cours as it was the case until 2008, but to the Paul Ricard circuit, which had long served as a testing track since its departure from the calendar in 1990.
A comeback that delighted all French fans of motorsport. However, the first two editions, in 2018 and 2019, quickly cast a shadow on the Castellet circuit, clearly due to uninteresting races. Due to the pandemic, the French Grand Prix did not take place in 2020 and returned to the calendar the following year, where a twist-filled race between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen for the victory unfolded.
Despite this successful edition last season, the French Grand Prix, whose 5-year contract expires at the end of the 2022 season, sees its place threatened by the arrival of Grand Prix races like Miami or Las Vegas. Just like Monaco or Spa-Francorchamps, there is no guarantee that Paul Ricard will stay on the calendar after the next edition in July.
Faced with this, it is said that the organizers of the French Grand Prix would be considering the possibility of alternating the event every other year with another circuit. Given the quite alarming situation, this solution could therefore turn out to be rather good news. Although nothing is confirmed at the moment, it now remains to determine which circuit could partner with Le Castellet. Would Spa or Monaco also agree to give up their spot and take place only every other year? Could Grand Prix races like Germany make a comeback to the calendar through this solution?
In the meantime, France is still not assured of keeping its national Grand Prix after 2022. Whether one likes the track or not, the loss of this circuit from the calendar would be a real heartbreak for all French fans of motor racing, as well as for French F1 drivers and drivers in junior formulas.
