As the 2025 Formula 1 season draws to a close, we have the closest fight for the World Drivers’ Championship in years.
However, the thrilling title fight we have on our hands doesn’t necessarily paint the full picture.
To the majority of the fanbase, the bulk of the season has been uneventful to say the least.
This isn’t a new issue either, think back to Verstappen’s dominance in 2023, or Hamilton cruising to his seventh world championship during Covid in 2020.
It shouldn’t be unreasonable to expect a season with consistent wheel-to-wheel racing, and a decent fight at the top.
There are a number of reasons as to why this is happening, but it seems as if the calendar may be the next to undergo change in the pursuit of a solution.
At the start of this year, the FIA announced that the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (Belgian Grand Prix) would run on a bi-annual basis starting in 2027, rotating with a Madrid street circuit. More recently, a controversial decision of having Singapore as a sprint weekend, has felt like steps in the wrong direction to many fans.
But what are the actual issues and what are some solutions that would improve the quality of Formula One?
Street circuits and their issues
One commonly talked about issue is the sheer number of street circuits on the calendar.
Street circuits have always been a part Formula One, with the world-famous Monaco GP being on the calendar since the birth of the sport.
The challenge of the narrow circuits around cities with tight corners is a positive, something different to the rest of the season, but since the millennium, an influx of street circuits has meant that they take up a third of the calendar – including Canada, which is considered a hybrid.
List of the F1 street circuits
- Albert Park Circuit, Australia
- Baku City Circuit, Azerbaijan
- Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Canada
- Circuit de Monaco, Monaco
- Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore
- Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Saudi Arabia
- Las Vegas Strip Circuit, USA
- Miami International Autodrome, USA
The issue with this is the lack of overtaking opportunities on these tracks as the cars are increasingly bigger than ever, meaning you can barely fit two of them cars wide around a portion of the tracks.
Beyond the new regulations for the 2026 season that intend for smaller cars, the simple solution is: some tracks must go. Personally, out of the ones listed above, Miami, Singapore and Jeddah don’t justify being on the calendar, but this is subjective.
Is the F1 calendar too intense for teams?
Over the years, F1 has developed from being a largely European/South American-dominated sport, to now being a global phenomenon. It’s obvious how globalisation can impact a sport’s revenue and talent pool, however for F1, it seems it may bear some negatives too.
As race locations have a greater distance between them than ever before, 24 races is a strain for teams and drivers, with Red Bull driver Max Verstappen claiming it is ‘Way over the limit’. It’s not only unsustainable, but it’s interesting to think whether if the teams had to cover less miles in the air and had more time between races, how much would it improve their performance.
My proposed solution – 18 races a season, spanning across the world. No triple headers, minimal double headers. While near-impossible given how money-driven the sport has become, it would ease the strain on teams, while still giving fans a reasonably long season.
Conclusion
In conclusion, while there are many issues with the quality of racing in F1, some are undergoing fixes. With changes to the circuit calendar announced recently and tracks like Zandvoort (Dutch GP) soon approaching the end of its contract, the calendar is most likely next to undergo change.
Racing has been poor this season, and there is no doubt some sort of fix is needed.
With my suggestions above, the calendar would balance the needs of fans, providing good quality racing and be fair for all teams.
Will it end up this good though? Only time will tell.
