Calendar of Dreams

This week, the FIA announced the latest version of next year's Formula One Calendar. The latest addition, as has been known for some time, is the return of the United States Grand Prix at a brand new 'Tilkedrome' situated in the Texan city of Austin. With the current Concorde Agreement imposing a limit of twenty Grand Prix per season (a figure that would have been reached this year if not for the cancellation of the opening round at Bahrain), the Turkish Grand Prix appears to have drawn the short straw for now. This hardly comes as surprising news – spectator attendances were among the, if not the, worst seen this season at the Istanbul Park Circuit.

The exorbitant fees charged by F1's commercial rights holder (i.e. Bernie Ecclestone) means that individual circuit promoters must charge paying punters a handsome sum, often in the order of several hundred pounds, for grandstand seats. This wouldn't be so much of a problem if there are sufficient F1 fans around who are willing to pay, as is the case in places such as the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain. But, countries such as Turkey, along with China, Bahrain, Korea, Abu Dhabi and India, simply don't have enough fans due to the relatively low profile of F1 in such places. None of them have any other prolific motorsport championships, and with the exception of India neither has any ever had an F1 driver to speak of.

This is where Ecclestone's tactic of simply awarding dates to the highest bidders doesn't work. While efforts to widen the audience of F1 are of course to be applauded, there are more effective ways of doing this than simply commissioning Mr. Tilke to design a circuit and have it built in a remote country whose government has no qualms in subsidising the whole thing in pursuit of global 'prestige'. Grand Prix should instead be reserved for countries whose people already have an appetite for one, which is why I believe F1 should be staying more loyal to its traditional European venues.

Over the course of the last decade, such fantastic circuits as Imola, Magny-Cours and the A1 Ring have been brushed aside to accommodate an inflated quantity of soulless Eastern circuits. So, in response to the draft 2012 calendar, which features just eight European fixtures out of twenty, I decided to pen a calendar more in keeping with F1's classic venues. Bearing in mind that two-thirds of current F1 drivers are European, my calendar boasts no less than twelve European rounds, with the remaining eight spread across each of the other five continents.

The season would begin not in Melbourne, but at the recently revamped South African circuit of Kyalami, which last hosted a grand prix back in 1993. It has a similar character to the Istanbul circuit, featuring a combination of technical sequences and flowing sections as well as plenty of elevation changes. Having declared the first winner of the season, the circus would then fly westwards to the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo, which would return to an early-season slot after inexplicably being made the final round of the season in 2004. The emergence of Mexican driver Sergio Perez would then warrant a return to Mexico City, a track that hasn't been used by F1 since 1992; its long straights and banked final corner would doubtless make for some thrilling duels to entertain the newly-invigorated Mexican crowds.

The European season would be kick-started by a visit to the legendary Imola circuit, under the traditional 'San Marino Grand Prix' title, where a sell-out would be all but guaranteed by the ever-loyal tifosi. Spain's track would move from the dreary location of Catalunya to the more overtaking-friendly Jerez circuit, which is best known as the scene of Michael Schumacher's infamous attempt to barge title rival Jacques Villeneuve off the course. Needless to say, Monaco would remain on anybody's calendar; its dearth of overtaking more than made up for by its unsurpassable glamour.

Montreal never fails to entertain, thus assuring it its place on my would-be calendar as part of the North American double-header. The other half would not be the new Tilke-designed circuit in Austin but rather the street circuit in Long Beach, California. Despite losing its Grand Prix after the 1983 event, IndyCar has visited ever since. The lively atmosphere of the event combined with a variety of overtaking opportunities make it similar to Montreal – and that can only be a good thing.

The French Magny-Cours circuit would also be re-instated after the oldest Grand Prix of them all was removed from the schedule after the 2008 event. Next would come Silverstone, the undisputed home of British Motor Racing, even if I personally dislike the new track layout. This would be followed to a return to the A1 Ring, now known as the Red Bull Ring, which almost seems right given the success the eponymous team currently enjoys, though the fact Austria has given us drivers such as Jochen Rindt, Niki Lauda and Gerhard Berger in years gone by would merit it a spot on the calendar anyway.

The Nurburging is the only logical venue for the German Grand Prix after the once-great Hockenheimring was butchered by Tilke in 2002, with the Hungaroring drawing sufficient fans from all over Europe to make up for its distinct lack of overtaking opportunities. The opposite is true of Belgium's Spa, however: an absolutely outstanding circuit layout compensates its usually meagre spectator figures. Monza enjoys the best of both worlds with its famous low-downforce, high-speed racing combined with a truly passionate Italian crowd, whilst the great racing seen at the brand-new Portuguese Algarve circuit in other series makes it worth including.

A block of four 'flyaway's to finish begins with Singapore, whose enthralling night-race spectacle is enough to overcome the tiny city state's lack of motorsport heritage. Sepang would also survive the axe on the basis of a strong track layout combined with Malaysia having had an F1 driver in the past in the form of Alex Yoong, as well as a current F1 team in Team Lotus. The Japanese Grand Prix would be the penultimate round, naturally at the Suzuka circuit, the very place where the infamous Senna-Prost feud came to a head in 1989-90.

The twenty-round calendar would be rounded off by the street circuit of Adelaide, the traditional final round until its replacement by fellow Australian city Melbourne in 1996. As well as featuring the classic street-circuit combination of long straights and right-angle bends, it is, as many F1 fans know, the backdrop to Nigel Mansell's heartbreaking tyre failure that cost him the championship in 1986. And there you have it. Bernie's insatiable thirst for cash means that, for now, many of these fantastic venues will remain untouched by the F1 fraternity. Hopefully, his successor, whoever that may be, will have the sense to ensure some of these classic circuits return to where they belong – on the F1 calendar.