Translation:
Great news for F1 fans! Max Verstappen and his gang will still be passing through Francorchamps in 2025. The Formula 1 promoter is due to make it official later today, Wednesday. A promoter who has decided to play less on the nerves of the Belgian Grand Prix organizers...
Remember: in 2022, it was only on Sunday morning, a few hours before the start of the Grand Prix, that the contract was extended for a further year. And this year, it was at the beginning of July, just three weeks before the 2023 edition (brought forward to the end of July), that we learned that lovers of the Ardennes toboggan would return to their favorite show in 2024. The date has even been set: July 28, 2024.
This time, it's almost two years before the deadline that the small Spa Grand Prix team will be able to mobilize to prepare the next two editions of the Belgian GP in the best possible way. The date of the 2025 GP is not yet known. This calendar will not be finalized for another year or so.That said, things are unlikely to change dramatically, and we can expect the last weekend in July to be chosen once again.
At the end of September, Spa Grand Prix announced figures for the 2023 edition of the Belgian GP. These figures were much more favorable than those traditionally recorded, which were usually between 6 and 8 million euros in deficit. This time, the financial year closed with a loss of 3.2 million euros (exactly 3,198,890).
This was mainly due to an increase in capacity to 110,000 spectators per day, compared with 100,000 in previous years. And a substantial increase in the price of grandstand tickets, coveted by an increasingly enthusiastic public. By the end of this year's event, the organizers had already announced that a new attendance record had been reached, with 380,000 people registered for the entire weekend.
This success encouraged the Walloon Region to extend its support for one of Belgium's most popular events of the year. "I'm delighted with these very good results, which I hope will make it possible to perpetuate the place of a Grand Prix in Spa, particularly in 2025", declared Willy Borsus, the Walloon Minister for the Economy. He then instructed the promoters of the Belgian Grand Prix to convince the Formula 1 promoters to extend the lease with Francorchamps. And clearly, they found the right words, since F1 will be coming to Belgium for the next two years. At least!