The Autodromo de Buenos Aires Oscar y Juan Galvez circuit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, has held 20 World Championship Formula 1 races in the past but none since 1998
Motorsport fans in Argentina celebrated a victory this week with the announcement that MotoGP will return to the capital Buenos Aires from 2027. And government officials there are clear that this is not where their ambition ends – they want a slice of the ever-growing Formula 1 pie.
MotoGP has much more recent history in Argentina, having held a race in the country in most years since 2014, but 700 miles north-west at a circuit in the small city of Termas de Rio Hondo. But you have to go all the way back to 1998 for F1’s last visit to the country, a race won by Michael Schumacher.
There was talk of a comeback around 15 years ago, but a return to Argentina never materialised. Bernie Ecclestone, still in charge of F1’s commercial rights at that point and famously not one to mince his words, said the sport was “open to racing in Argentina when I can deal with serious people” at a government level.
Jorge Macri, chief of government of Buenos Aires, thinks he is a serious person. Which will be entirely necessarily given that, even though Ecclestone and his influence are long gone, F1’s current operators Liberty Media are receiving so much global interest from new markets right now that only extremely thorough, long-term and sustainable plans for events will get their attention these days.
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Macri has made it clear that he plans to present one. Commenting on MotoGP’s planned return to the Argentine capital from 2027, he said: “Starting in October, we will undertake a comprehensive renovation of the circuit, which includes work on the track, pits, paddock and safety zones, incorporating the latest technology. With this investment in infrastructure, security, logistics, and connectivity, we will bring the venue up to international standards.”
That is vital – the Autodromo de Buenos Aires Oscar y Juan Galvez is currently an FIA Grade 4 certified track, and Grade 1 would be required for it to be eligible to host F1 races. And Macri made it clear that is the long-term ambition, adding: “This is the first step toward applying for the City of Buenos Aires to host Formula 1.”
But just because a country or promoter wants to get involved in F1, it certainly doesn’t mean they can. There is already a packed 24-race annual calendar with Madrid hosting a race for the first time next year and Thailand poised to become the next country to host a pit stop on the sport’s global tour every year.
Then you add in F1’s publicly-acknowledged desire to return to Africa – not that a deal on that front looks likely to be struck any time soon – and other proposed new venues in Chicago, Osaka, Qiddiya in Saudi Arabia, among others. There is already a lengthy queue and, realistically, only Thailand has a chance of getting their project green-lighted and into action before 2030 at the earliest.
But where, specifically, is Argentina in its bid to bring F1 back onto its shores and capitalise on the massive interest in the country in the fortunes of Alpine racer Franco Colapinto? Relatively, the answer is pretty much nowhere. Enticing MotoGP back to that circuit in the Buenos Aires suburbs is a positive step, but that’s about it in terms of its efforts to get back involved in F1 right now.
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F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali met with an Argentine delegation in Sao Paulo over the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend last November, but those were little more than preliminary talks. More an expression of interest – Argentina wants back in, but there is a long road ahead before that dream becomes reality, if it ever does.
And right now there’s no guarantee that Colapinto will still be on the F1 grid in a couple of months, never mind years, given his tenuous situation at Alpine right now. If he were to drop off the grid again, we will soon see just how tied to the 22-year-old’s fortunes Argentina’s interest in hosting an F1 race again really is.