McLaren boss Zak Brown has detailed the changes he would like to see made to the F1 calendar, following the addition of a third race in the United States, as Las Vegas joins the circuit line-up. The Las Vegas Grand Prix will arrive on the calendar next season, with the Saturday-night race set to be held under the lights in November 2023. Under commercial rights holder Liberty Media, F1 is looking to expand into more regions than ever before, whilst continuing to grow in the lucrative US market. But the current 23-race calendar, packed into a 36-week period, is already proving a mammoth logistical task for the sport .
Brown wants 30 venues to share shorter F1 calendar
"If you could wave a magic wand, I'd like to see something like 21 or 22 races," said Brown, speaking to Reuters . But the McLaren chief is keen to see F1 race regularly at 30 venues, growing in and benefitting from a vast number of markets, although not all in one season. That would see some circuits rotate, hosting F1 events often – but not every season. "[It would be a calendar of] 17 or 18 as permanent fixtures and seven or eight that rotate," he explained. "Because I do think, to continue to grow the sport, the more quality markets we can be in, the better. "I think there are 'A markets' and 'B markets' that we race in. Maybe your 'B markets' [should be] every other year."
Three US races is "almost perfect"
RacingNews365.com understands that F1's commercial rights holders, Liberty Media, hold a desire to eventually stage a fourth Grand Prix in the US. That plan would see one race held on the east coast (Miami), one in the heart of the country (Austin), one further west (Las Vegas) and another on the west coast (most likely in Long Beach). "I think these are three awesome markets," said Brown, commenting on the races already set to be staged in the US in 2023. "I think it's almost the perfect schedule from an American standpoint."
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