Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin met with the head of Formula 1, Stefano Domenicali, this Monday. The Italian brought other members of the category’s senior team to the meeting in order to explore Bangkok for possible layouts for a street circuit.
Thavisin shared a photo of the meeting with Domenicali in a social media post. The Prime Minister made it clear that he views the chances of a first Thai GP positively and that the country has all the facilities to hold a successful event.
There was already a meeting between Domenicali and Thavisin in Paris last month to discuss the possibilities of a street circuit, a Thai government spokeswoman revealed in a statement. Earlier this year, Thailand had already announced its interest in hosting a race Formula E and has received the MotoGP since 2018.
The news follows South Korea’s interest in returning to the F1 calendar. This time, that interest comes not from Yeongam, where the races took place from 2010 to 2013, but from the multimillion-dollar city of Incheon. At the Japanese GP, a delegation from the multimillion-dollar South Korean city of Incheon was present for a meeting with Domenicali.
Under current rules, a maximum of 24 races can be organized per year. The 2025 calendar has already been presented recently and does not offer any major changes compared to 2024. However, the contracts for six circuits expire next year: Spa-Francorchamps, Monza, Mexico City, Monaco, Imola and Zadnvoort.
A year later, Austin and Azerbaijan’s contracts expire. As there is a lot of interest in hosting races, F1 is considering the idea of a rotation system. In particular, the European GP would have to give way to other races on European soil that alternate every two years. So it could happen that Spa and Zandvoort alternate to maintain variety in the calendar, but also to provide enough space for new locations.
