Formula One Group chief executive Stefano Domenicali admitted “it will be increasingly difficult” to hold two Grands Prix in the same country, putting the future of Imola in doubt.

The Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix is in the final year of its contract in 2025, and with Monza’s future secure until at least 2031, Domenicali acknowledged a “definitive choice” over Imola’s place on the calendar will come this year.

F1 news: Domenicali admits two races in same country ‘increasingly difficult’

Spain is due to have two races on the calendar in 2026 as an all-new street circuit in Madrid joins the schedule, taking on the Spanish Grand Prix mantle from the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which will be in the final year of its current contract to host Formula 1.

As for Barcelona’s long-term future, Domenicali has previously emphasised the strength of the relationship Formula 1 has with promoters at the Catalan circuit, meaning it is not impossible for the circuit to remain on the calendar beyond the end of its current deal.

In Italy, however, the Formula 1 CEO admitted “it will not be easy” from a personal perspective if a second Italian race has to fall away from the calendar in 2026 – potentially to make way for Madrid – with the former Ferrari team principal having been born in Imola himself.

He made sure to praise the circuit for stepping up in the Covid-affected 2020 season as it returned to the Formula 1 calendar, but said a “definitive choice” over its future will come this year.

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“In the coming months we will face this choice: from a human point of view it will not be easy, but I have to exercise an international role that puts me in front of so many requests around the world from emerging countries that can allow F1 to grow,” Domenicali told Radio Rai Gr Parlamento, as quoted by Italian publication il Resto del Carlino.

“It is an evaluation that I will soon have to make as a definitive choice.

“Italy has always represented and will represent in the future an important part of Formula 1.

“It will be increasingly difficult to have two races in the same country because interest in Formula 1 is growing and it is a situation that we will have to face in the coming months. It is difficult for it to continue for a long time.

“I do not forget that Imola responded at a time of great difficulty, that of Covid.

“When there was a need to find new places, they responded immediately with the enthusiasm and ability of an entire city.”

Domenicali has spoken before of the use of calendar rotation for European races, with Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium having been the first to sign a rotational deal for its next stint in Formula 1 – hosting races in four of the next six seasons, after 2025.

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