Austrian GP future set to be confirmed with massive new contract

The Austrian Grand Prix is set to remain a key fixture of the F1 calendar with a lengthy new contract.

PlanetF1.com understands that a new contract is set to be announced in the coming days, confirming that the Red Bull Ring until at least 2041.

Formula 1 set to lock in Red Bull Ring for long-term

The Austrian Grand Prix returned to the calendar in 2014 after a decade-long hiatus. During that time, the Spielberg circuit on which the event is hosted was rebranded from the A1-Ring to the Red Bull Ring.

Its lineage predates even that, with a longer, less sanitised version of the circuit, named the Osterreichring, hosting the world championship from 1970 to 1987 before renovations modernised it into the layout that remains today.

Suggestions of a new deal for Austria follow a line of similar long-term announcements in recent months.

The Miami GP has secured its future until 2041, while officials in Canada announced a new contract that would ensure F1 continues to race in Montreal until at least 2035.

Indeed, a new deal through to 2041 for Austria would make it the 15th event secured into the next decade, and the second locked in until the 2040s.

It also comes at a time when the future of the Austrian Grand Prix had been under a cloud.

The current event contract runs through only until the 2027 event, with promoters understood to be boast one of the lowest-paying races on the calendar.

That raised questions surrounding whether it might become a biennial event, and used to complete the rotating pair with the Belgian Grand Prix.

Under its latest deal, Spa-Francorchamps will be present until 2031, though will be absent in both 2028 and 2030.

The F1 calendar is limited to 24 events meaning there are currently gaps in the schedule during the years Belgium is not scheduled to host a race.

Meanwhile, Thailand has gone to considerable lengths in its efforts to attract a round of the world championship.

Recently, $1.3 billion of funding was approved for the project, which is targeting a 2028 debut, with a circuit set to be laid out around Bangkok.

However, in order to add a potential Bangkok GP, which is not expected to rotate as the Belgian GP will, space must first be created.

Organisers in the Netherlands have announced that they will not be pursuing a renewal of their contract beyond the existing deal, which expires after next year’s event.

While that creates the necessary gap for Thailand, it does so a year early, meaning a bridging event would be needed.

Read more about F1 race contracts

👉 Where will F1 find its next new race? Every project chasing future deal

👉 F1 circuit contracts: What is the current contract status of every track?

That could see a brief return of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which is out of contract following this year’s race – its place taken by the all-new Madrid GP for next year (assuming its legal challenges fail).

However, there are understood to be concerns beyond the promoter’s ability to raise the funding necessary for F1.

The Spanish GP could also play a part with the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya poised to host its final event next year. That could be retained in the short term and form part of a Belgian GP rotating pair in time – easing the burden on the local promoter.

Also out of contract is the United States Grand Prix. Though interest in the US is strong and continues to grow, the Circuit of The Americas event is far from a sure thing, and its future is linked to whatever political winds are blowing through Austin.

Estimated to pay around $30million a year, it’s a comparatively low-contributing event but one that has value for Formula One Management through other means.

The odds are therefore more like that it will remain on the schedule, especially given there is seemingly a dearth of options with which to replace it.

Outside of the Thai effort, there are no known projects with any credibility pitching for an event.

The Rwandan effort appears to have collapsed, while financial questions in South Africa cast doubt over the likelihood of that turning into anything more than a pipedream. The odds of the Morocco plan coming to fruition seem even longer.

There are two other events with expiring contracts in the short-term; Azerbaijan (2026), and Saudi Arabia (2027).

Both are among the highest-paying rounds on the calendar and for that reason alone are likely to be renewed – though whispers questioning Saudi Arabia’s future have been doing the rounds for some time.

The final wildcard is the Las Vegas Grand Prix, an event promoted by F1’s commercial rights holder (Liberty Media) but which does not have a contract beyond this year’s race.

The flagship event has haemorrhaged money in its first two editions, falling short of Liberty’s expectations in 2024 contributing to a lean final quarter.

There is intent to press on with the event despite the mounting losses.

However, rather than lock in a long-term deal – a development that’s unlikely to be met well by Wall St analysts – a two-year extension is on the cards.

With Austria’s future locked away for the long term, it therefore turns the question to which of the four other events – Spain, United States, Azerbaijan, and Saudi Arabia – is renewed, either as a bridging event or a rotational race to pair with Belgium.

Or could one of those disappear and make way for something altogether new? Financially, Formula One Management is better taking a lower-paying event than not scheduling its full complement of 24 events a season, but the question is, with few pieces remaining to play with, how does that jigsaw fit together?