The 2024 Belgian Grand Prix lost millions
F1 News
- Sandy van Wijngaarden
The Belgian Grand Prix suffered a major financial loss in 2024. Melchior Wathelet, the president of the race in Spa-Francorchamps, announced this.
In 2024, the Belgian Grand Prix had around 380,000 visitors over the whole weekend. These numbers were not enough to run the event with green figures. In fact, last year the Belgian Grand Prix had a loss of around €3-3.5 million.
Several setbacks for F1 Belgian Grand Prix
To deal with this financial setback, the Walloon Region, the Walloon government in Belgium, has once again come to the rescue of the race in Spa-Francorchamps. The loss incurred in 2024 is a lot higher than the €2.3 million loss in 2023.
According to the organisers of the Grand Prix, the extra loss in 2024 is partly due to extra investments and promotions. In fact, last year there was considerable investment in the infrastructure on and around the circuit.
For instance, a kilometre of guardrail was added for the 2024 race, new entrances were created and water drainage was improved with new gutters. In addition, part of the circuit was given a new layer of asphalt to provide more grip.
The parking areas and associated campsite were also given a new layout. Furthermore, the old rallycross track and Ferme Foguenne were redesigned to be more at the service of the events taking place. Finally, some buildings were either demolished or renovated to create more space for the paddock.
The position of the Belgian Grand Prix had been uncertain for a long time. Almost every year, the race in the Belgian Ardennes was forced to wait for a contract extension. Recently, the race's position has been confirmed on the calendar for a long time.
The Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit will be on the calendar until at least 2031, but it will enter a rotation system since 2028, exiting the calendar said year, only to return for the following, and skipping 2030 as well.
Which other Grands Prix will rotate venues is still unclear. However, Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali did say that Imola is a good candidate for this system.
This article was written with the collaboration of Norberto Mujica.
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