Carlos Sainz hopes that a rotation system will help to keep classic Grands Prix such as France and Belgium in F1, as the sport's calendar becomes ever more congested with new venues keen to pay big money to have their place in Formula 1. Next year's calendar sees the planned return of the Chinese and Qatar Grands Prix, as well as the addition of a race around the streets of Las Vegas, and with rumours suggesting a South African Grand Prix may also be in the offing for 2023, attention is turning to which races might be for the chop. Both French and Belgian Grands Prix are rumoured to be making way for new events in 2023, but Sainz says he hopes they can reappear on future F1 calendars on a rotating basis. "We all love going to France and Spa, but at the same time, the sport is growing so much that there's a lot of new places that are paying a lot of money to be part of Formula 1," Sainz told media, including RacingNews365.com . "I think the best compromise would be to do rotation, and I understand that France or Spa maybe cannot afford to be on the calendar every year, but I hope that at least we can go there every two or three years in a Formula 1 car. "Even if Vegas, South Africa, or whatever is coming, [I hope] we can still go to back to France or Spa every now and then to keep enjoying those circuits, and maybe like this they can afford it a bit easier."
Verstappen, Ocon keen to retain classic GPs
Echoing Sainz's thoughts, World Champion Max Verstappen admitted he was equally loath to see Spa disappear from the F1 calendar. "It would be a big shame to lose Spa," said Verstappen, whose mother is Belgian. "It's my favourite track in the world, and it's just an amazing track in a Formula 1 car, with all the high speed corners and the flow it has in general." Also weighing in on the subject was Esteban Ocon, who expressed his hopes that his home French Grand Prix would continue to be a fixture in F1. "I saw a great comment from Stefano [Domenicali, F1's CEO], basically saying that France deserves to have a Grand Prix in the future," Ocon added. "This is my stance as well. 'Grand Prix' – it's a French word. "There's a big community for motorsport in France, we have some of the biggest and the best cars as well."
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