Future of Formula 1 - Where to Next?

Formula 1 has never had it better as a sport with growing and glowing TV ratings worldwide. Never in its history has it had such a following from fans and the media from all corners of the globe.

And never has a Formula 1 season has been so prolific and long as the 2012 season - with a record 20 seasons, 2012 will be the longest F1 season yet.

But given how many countries and places are bidding to host a GP, could there be more F1 races in the future?

Yes, Jean Todt, FIA president, has said that 20 races is probably the most teams can take part in but then again a couple of years ago, Max Mosley said that 18 was the most.

To be honest, I can actually see them going as far as 25 especially if it means that the Formula 1 World Championship will go to places like South Africa, Russia, Argentina, Mexico, thereby becoming a truly global world championship.

Furthermore, with the FIA now trying to enforce rules on teams that will cut costs, i.e. less testing, shorter race weekends, etc., this could enable F1 teams to be able to go to more places.

As it stands, the 2014 F1 season could be the longest in history judging by this potential schedule:

The soon to be finished Austin F1 track

March - Australia, Malaysia, South Africa
April - China, Bahrain
May - Spain, Monaco
June - Canada, New Jersey, France
July - Britain, Germany, Hungary, Russia
August - Summer break
September - Belgium, Italy, Singapore
October - India, Korea, Japan
November - Brazil, Austin, Abu Dhabi

*Russia will host a GP on the streets of 2014 Olympic host city, Sochi from 2014.
*South Africa is rumoured to be hosting a GP on the streets of Cape Town around Green Point stadium and could host a race as early as 2014.
*New Jersey will join the F1 circuit from 2013.
*The French GP could be back in 2014 after a brief hiatus, returning to the wonderful Paul Ricard circuit in the south of France.  

Spa could potentially be lost to F1 in demand for races from Asia

As we all know, F1 started originally in Europe and remains firmly rooted there, even if the number of races in Europe has slowly diminished. The days where countries like Italy, Germany, Spain and even England could host more than one grand prix annually, rebadged as the San Marino, European, Luxembourg GP are about to go with Barcelona and Valencia now likely to share the Spanish GP just like Hockenheim and the Nurburgring share the German GP.

Yeongnam, Korea

In fact, Asia and Europe will eventually share the same number of grand prix per season - the money for F1 is clearly in Asia, with governments there seeing the massive dollar signs and potential publicity as a result of having a global sport like F1 in their country for just that one weekend and more willing than most local Western European governments to pay the exorbitant fee that Bernie Ecclestone demands - that's the reason why we're not going to the wonderful Istanbul circuit in 2012 by the way.

Potential background for New Jersey GP?

And then there's the USA, still easily the world's largest consumer market and will be for a while yet. F1 has always struggled to gain a firm footing and respectability in the States due to the politics there and competition with NASCAR and Indycars but now could be the time for F1 to truly shine with the Americans slowly embracing the world's other delights - the Premier League for example has become quite popular in the USA with the likes of Man United and Liverpool set to tour there in the summer. In 2014 we will see two races in the USA with one in New Jersey around the same time as the ever popular Canadian Grand Prix and one in November in Austin in the middle of football season - I have a feeling the Texas GP could be quite popular.

Finally, there's Brazil, a place F1 will certainly not desert given the huge contribution the country has made to the sport with Senna, Fittipaldi, Piquet, Barrichello, Massa, etc. and a country where there is a healthy synergy between fans and teams. Furthermore, Brazil is slowly becoming one of the most important economies in the world and whether they're still racing at the charming Interlagos circuit or not, F1 will still be in Brazil.

But there could be further expansion into Latin America with Mexico and Argentina also talking up their chances of hosting a GP. Mexico's chances could be aided by the rise and rise of young Sergio Perez especially if he gets behind the wheel of a Ferrari. The only problem is the crime in Mexico but the same could be said about Brazil.

So F1 is on the rise and clearly a sport in demand worldwide. The trouble is is there enough of the drivers, teams to go around? And when is enough enough? Unfortunately we won't really know. At this stage I'd say 25 F1 races could be a reality much earlier than you think.