As Joe prepares for his 600th Grand Prix, he realizes that in F1 – as in life – change is the only constant.

What I love most about Formula 1 – and I love a lot of things – is that it is constantly evolving. Nothing stays the same for very long. In fact, I think the oldest thing in sport these days, other than the brands and the circuits, is the journalists – who have been around for a long time. I will soon be celebrating (or at least recognizing…) my 600th Grand Prix, which is pretty scary when you consider that there has only been something like 1,050 races, which means I attended and returned accounts for about 57% of all races in world championship history.

How is that possible, given that there were 11 years of F1 racing even before I was born?

Sport has taken me all over the world and continues to introduce me to new places. In the coming months, there will be two new locations – in Qatar and Miami. I know the latter from various tours, but the former will be new to me – and I am interested in exploring the country. I expect to go to Qatar for at least the next 10 years – if I can! The Qataris want to get their hands on a sporting event with a penetration of the world market, to follow the Football World Cup, which is in the news of the country at the moment.

Losail’s facility was built for motorcycle racing, but, with a few modifications, it will work for Formula 1 as well – although it shouldn’t attract a huge crowd. The race must be relatively early or late in the year due to the high temperatures observed during the summer months, when the averages can reach 40 (degrees C). The location is good for coverage of Formula 1 races, as a 9pm race means early afternoon in the United States. It is for this reason that the track was originally equipped with floodlights, and the track hosted the first MotoGP night race as early as March 2008, a few months before the first F1 night race in Singapore.

The track is not often used for international motor racing, but in 2009 it hosted an illuminated GP2 Asia race. The benefits of night races are many, besides the TV programming and cooler evening temperatures it means locals can also attend as the Islamic weekend is usually Friday and Saturday and so many people are at work on Sundays and cannot attend afternoon races. Spotlight lighting also helps a desert race track look more appealing, as the light patterns provide dramatic images compared to dusty desert photos.

At the same time, F1 is moving towards a new concept: a night race that will take place in broad daylight! The new Russian Grand Prix site near St. Petersburg offers some interesting possibilities, as the race will have to take place in summer – due to low temperatures at other times of the year – and when the weather is hot it There is also the strange phenomenon of the so-called White Nights, or Belye Nochi (Белые ночи) in Russian. These occur in June, when the sun never descends below the horizon due to the high latitude, and so night and day become indistinguishable. It would be a big novelty for the sport and would fit right in with the United States, which of course is the main target audience for the sport at the moment.

The demand for F1 races is such that race promoters have to come up with more and more to earn a place on the calendar. It even affected the Monaco GP, which started in 1929. Next year, Monaco will take place over three days for the first time, rather than the traditional four days. It’s one of those quirks found in sports that dates back to the first race, which was held during the annual Ascension Festival, which is a public holiday in France. Ascension Day is always a Thursday – it’s the 40th day after Easter – which is why Monaco always used to move on the calendar. This caused problems and F1 finally convinced the Monegasques to detach the race from the Christian holiday and move away from the bank holiday weekend, as the race is such a big draw it didn’t need to. be linked to the bank holiday weekend. But Monaco kept the four-day format, mainly because it gave local hoteliers the ability to charge exorbitant minimum stays of five nights and all other service industries around the Grand Prix, especially restaurants, were able to charge. earn more money. But, next year, Thursday’s practice in Monaco is finally going to be halted, with the race moving to a similar schedule to all other races – on the basis that, if Monaco starts on Friday, it is possible to have another race the previous weekend. The downside to downsizing is that race promoters will be less willing to pay race fees because the economic impact of a race on the region will be reduced, and therefore it will be more difficult to advocate for the money. public. However, the demand for F1 racing is such at the moment that those who want a race should expect to pay more than before and accept less favorable terms. The most likely scenario, then, is that the Spanish GP will take place the weekend before Monaco, as it is a less difficult journey than other events, with the two cities only 400 miles apart. …

I still believe that there is a lot more to come – and I can’t wait to be a part of it – and to increase this stupid statistic of the percentage of total F1 races I have attended …

Joe Saward has covered Formula 1 full time for over 30 years. He hasn’t missed a race since 1988.

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