Breaking news
Formula 1
Portugal in talks about F1 race at Algarve
Algarve circuit owners have begun talks with Formula 1's owners regarding bringing the championship back to Portugal, Motorsport.com has learned.
Lawrence Barretto
Edited: Jun 6, 2017, 3:03 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The Portuguese Grand Prix last took place in 1996, with Estoril hosting 13 successive F1 grands prix from 1984.
Work was completed on the 100,000-capacity 2.9-mile circuit Algarve International Circuit, 15 minutes drive from Portimao, in 2008.
It is believed the Portuguese government asked Algarve circuit bosses to explore the possibility of bringing F1 back to the European country.
Talks have taken place between the Algarve track and F1's new owners, but discussions are at an early stage.
The venue believes it is ready to host F1, with the necessary infrastructure in place in the local area.
But it understands it is a competitive market, with France returning to the calendar after a 10-year hiatus, with a race at Paul Ricard in 2018, along with Germany.
However, the Portuguese economy is bouncing back after a tough period and the government is believed to be in a position to supply funds - providing the fee is sensible.
It comes at a time when F1 commercial boss Sean Bratches and sporting chief Ross Brawn are formulating next year's calendar.
Brawn is keen for quality over quantity, while Bratches has said the new owners are being "proactive" in targeting markets that it wants to take F1 with a view of expanding the calendar beyond 21 races from 2019.
Those markets have been outlined as Europe, Asia and North and Latin America.
The Algarve circuit has never hosted a Formula 1 grand prix, but has previously welcomed F1 cars.
It hosted three tests - one in December 2008 and two in January 2009 - with Ferrari, McLaren, Toyota, Renault, Toro Rosso and Williams all running at some point.
It was also the venue for Lando Norris' test of a McLaren F1 last week as part of his prize for winning the 2016 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award.
Previously, the track hosted a round of the World Superbike Championship, A1GP and the FIA GT Championship.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Timetable of the 2017 Canadian Grand Prix in Montréal
Next article Kubica completes F1 test with Renault at Valencia
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Lawrence Barretto
Sirotkin, Stroll to have two race engineers each
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sirotkin, Stroll to have two race engineers each
Hamilton "sacrifice" saved Mercedes an hour of testing
Formula 1
Formula 1
Hamilton "sacrifice" saved Mercedes an hour of testing
Kubica regrets being "too honest" about driving limitations
Formula 1
Formula 1
Kubica regrets being "too honest" about driving limitations
Latest news
F1 United States GP live commentary and updates - FP1
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
29 min
F1 United States GP live commentary and updates - FP1
Max Papis announces departure as IndyCar chief steward
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 42 min
Max Papis announces departure as IndyCar chief steward
Lamborghini Super Trofeo | Asia Race 2: Victory for Li/Sherlock, but Tregurtha crowned champion over Sceats/Wisniewski
Lamborghini Super Trofeo
LBST Lamborghini Super Trofeo
World Finals - Monza 2026
1 h
Lamborghini Super Trofeo | Asia Race 2: Victory for Li/Sherlock, but Tregurtha crowned champion over Sceats/Wisniewski
Rackley W.A.R. to immediately shut down NASCAR Truck Series team
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Talladega
1 h
Rackley W.A.R. to immediately shut down NASCAR Truck Series team
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe