F1 is aiming for street circuits, FE for permanent circuits: why?

The announcement of Madrid's entry from 2026 adds another street circuit to the Formula 1 calendar, which is progressively moving more and more towards the big cities, abandoning the permanent tracks. Although it is true that this type of circuit has always been part of the world championship since its inception, in the last ten years the number of city races has significantly increased, occupying an ever-increasing percentage of the calendar.

Tracks such as Baku, Las Vegas and Jeddah have recently been added to the world championship, although the plan for the latter was originally to move to a permanent track once the construction plans in Qiddiya were concluded, which took a long time, guaranteeing the street circuit a place on the calendar until at least 2027. In these cases, as in that of Singapore, the races in the city have proven to be opportunities to expand the global Formula 1 market, opening up new sporting and commercial scenarios in a relatively short time and in already developed contexts.

At the same time, there are also particular examples, such as Miami, a semi-permanent track built in the parking lot of the Hard Rock Stadium, but born from the ashes of a project that planned to bring F1 to a city circuit, which foundered following the opposition from the local population. The road layout of Hanoi in Vietnam must also be added to the list, another program that failed following the pandemic and the corruption problems involving the event's promoters.

In this trend there are clearly exceptions, such as the return of Imola and Zandvoort, favored by the popularity of Max Verstappen, as well as the entry of Qatar, although even in the case of the Middle Eastern state the construction of a track had been evaluated town as an alternative to Lusail.

The model Liberty Media is aiming for

Although this process did not begin during the Liberty Media era, so much so that Bernie Ecclestone had already brought the top category to Singapore and Valencia, when the American company acquired the rights to F1 it was very clear on the fact that wanted to increase interest by focusing on the concept of “destination cities”, thus pushing motorsport into the best-known metropolises which are a destination for millions of people during the year. Since that moment, the trend towards city routes has emerged more and more clearly. There are multiple reasons behind this trend, starting from the economic one. Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan invest significant sums every year to host a race and, considering the objective of increasing local tourism, bringing the races to already developed cities makes perfect sense.

From this point of view, just think of the project in South Korea, which had created a route in a rural area with the future objective of building buildings and residential centers around it: however, that part of the project was never completed and the F1 abandoned Yeongam after just 4 seasons. Saudi Arabia also plans to build large cities, linked above all to the NEOM project, which in fact sponsors McLaren in Formula E and Extreme E, but these are long-term objectives, so the creation of a city track is it is also positioned as the most convenient solution in the short term.

On the other hand, even for Formula 1 there is a return that should not be underestimated. The first is the financial aspect, because Liberty Media rightly also looks at the economic impact generated to create profits, also through the visibility of sponsors, while the second is that of spectator involvement. Thinking of Monza, one of the conditions set for the renewal is the improvement of the structures, for which the Autodrome has started redevelopment works.

Photo by: Erik Junius

Night view of the Jeddah Corniche circuit

However, it is clear that, by broadening their gaze to a general perspective, the leaders of the category are attempting to aim for a model that is able to attract and involve the public more, even the general one. During the week of the Grand Prix, many promotional activities are carried out in the city center rather than in areas strictly connected to the circuits, such as the event in London in 2017. Bringing the races directly to the metropolises manages to facilitate this atmosphere of involvement and expansion, creating events of great significance on a commercial level.

The danger, however, is that of seeing an increasingly rich calendar of city events which, among other things, focus on common characteristics to try to create a feeling of unpredictability and competition, such as long straights to favor drafting and DRS as well as strong braking to ensure overtaking opportunities. If there are no defections, in 2026 we could reach about a third of the world championship. Formula 1 has often declared that it does not want to take away space from historic events, but it is clear that some permanent facilities in the future will have to make room for other destinations, putting their very survival at risk by depriving them of a primary source of income.

The contrast with the FE which follows the reverse path

Curiously, this is the opposite path to that of Formula E, the category that was born with the idea of ​​bringing the spectacle of car racing to cities around the world, also taking advantage of the fact of being a zero-emission series. Clearly, there were also technical reasons behind this decision to race on street circuits, linked to the constraints imposed by technology. The FE presents itself as a category that focuses centrally on energy recovery and efficiency for which, especially in the early days, the tracks needed short straights and numerous braking points to create opportunities to recharge the battery.

The main example was that of Monaco, which until the 2019 edition was held on a shortened version, both to avoid having a direct comparison with Formula 1 and out of necessity. Only in 2021 did we move to a layout similar to that of the top category, and then converged on the same design in 2022. Although on paper it may seem like only a small step forward, in reality it represented a significant stage in progress for Formula E of the series, continuing to look towards more “traditional” tracks.

Photo by: DPPI

Jean-Eric-Vergne, DS Penske, DS E-Tense FE23

Similarly, the Mexico stage has also seen significant changes: although the Formula 1 layout is still not used, over the years the length of the track has increased, also limiting the slower sections which slowed down the route in terms of average speed. Only in 2023 was a chicane added again to allow the battery to be recharged, but this also arises from the fact that the Gen3 was born with different characteristics compared to the previous generation, focusing even more on efficiency.

The choice to go towards more traditional circuits also depends on this aspect, namely the desire to experiment with increasingly competitive cars on tracks more suited to the purpose. With the new Gen4, which should make its debut in the 2026/27 season, there will be a clear step forward in terms of power and performance of the single-seaters, which however should also lead to greater demands from the point of view of safety in the construction of the circuits. Formula E tracks, in fact, do not require Grade 1 from the FIA ​​to host an ePrix, but level 3E is sufficient, although there are still events that have a Grade 2 licence.

However, there is also a purely logistical reason behind this transition. Formula E has often struggled to find continuity from a calendar point of view, especially with the pandemic, given the impossibility of racing in the city. The stages in China, Italy, France, Korea, England and the United States were canceled in favor of six consecutive races in Berlin which, except on one occasion, has always given space to electric cars on a circuit built inside the former Tempelhof Airport.

Managing to hold an ePrix in the city is a more difficult challenge than you might think. Although the expenses are lower overall, the economic return is also lower than that generated by a Formula 1 race, which manages to attract a greater audience than other series. Added to this are the opposition of citizens and local governments, who do not always agree with the decisions made previously.

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

Formula E debuted in Portland last season, immediately receiving positive feedback from the drivers

Over the years, several events have entered the calendar only to disappear after a short time, including Korea, Indonesia, Uruguay, Long Beach, New York, South Africa and Canada (Montreal). Added to this are also those cases in which, as in Vancouver, the match was canceled even before being played due to the cancellation of the contract. Another recent case is that of India, with the ePrix canceled after just one year following the decision of the new local government not to support the event.

The London stage has also seen several changes over the years and has now moved to the center of the ExCel, while from this season Formula E in Italy will move from the Rome city circuit to the Misano stage, on a permanent albeit in a reduced version. Other recent additions include Shanghai, which this year will make its debut in the world championship on a shortened configuration of the track used for Formula 1, and Portland, also used in the past by IndyCar and which replaced the city stage from New York. The choice to go to fixed locations that do not depend on the creation of a circuit in the city center on paper could also offer greater stability to the championship, an aspect that Formula E needs in the future.

Formula 1 and Formula E are moving towards two very different paths, but also for totally different reasons. On the one hand, Formula 1 looks to the “destination cities” model and the possibility of generating a high economic return, on the other, Formula E is looking for a stability that it has rarely found over the last ten years from the of the calendar.