The future of the Belgian GP at the fabled Spa-Francorchamps circuit is now looking more secure, promoter Vanessa Maes admits.
She recently met in London with Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali to discuss the race’s expiring contract, amid rumours Spa could be the next victim of the Liberty Media-fuelled push into new markets.
But the London meeting reportedly went well, and Maes subsequently travelled to Canada for more talks with Domenicali over the Montreal race weekend.
"The appointment was positive," Maes told the Belgian broadcaster RTBF. "He is now open to discussions with us.
"We’re not getting carried away - we haven’t signed anything yet. But things seem to be heading in the right direction."
However, Maes also seemed to confirm that the contract under discussion is only for a single race - 2024. Beyond that, there are strong rumours that an annual ’Benelux GP’ will be rotated between Spa and Zandvoort in the Netherlands.
"We don’t know yet what will happen after 2025," Maes admits.
"We know that Liberty Media wants a future with Spa-Francorchamps, when two years ago it was looking very difficult. They told us clearly that they no longer wanted to come to Belgium.
"But we worked a lot and that allowed us to be where we are now - that we can say that our country deserves to be on the calendar. We are a historic circuit but one that is looking to the future."
As for the rumours of a Spa-Zandvoort annual alternation, she added: "We don’t know about that.
"What is important is to secure 2024. I hope we’ll be on the schedule, but in any case we are led to believe that there are possibilities.
"We’ll see what happens next but we are confident now."