Istanbul, Turkiye becomes host of F1 Grand Prix for multiple years

The F1 Grand Prix has found its new home and starting from 2027 that home will be in Turkiye, Istanbul, for almost five years.

The news has been dropped by the President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the statement comes right after he sat down with F1’s Chief Executive Officer Stefano Domenicali as well as the president of the sport’s governing body, FIA, Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

The main cruise port will start from Galataport and will end y at the Presidential Office in Dolmabahce.

Per the president, “the return of the Turkish Grand Prix to the Formula 1 calendar is a victory for Turkiye’s passion and belief in sport. The Formula 1 races to be held at Istanbul Park for at least five years will both support Istanbul’s leading position in the world and demonstrate to the world that our country is the safe haven of its region.”

What is pertinent to mention about Asian side of Istanbul is that its often quite popular in the circuit, but the last opportunity to host the event was back in 2021 for the country, and it was as a stand-in due to the raging COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Al Jazeera, the country also held the event in years prior. They go all the way back from 2005, to 2011, and also 2020, but following that year securing the tens of millions of dollar budget needed to secure the deal turned difficult, and ended up going to Qatar. That is up until the company Can Bilim Egitim Kurumlari A.S party owned by the chairwoman of F1 tyre provider Pirelli’s Turkish branch, Lale Cander, managed to earn rights to operate the Istanbul Park circuit for a 30-year period for $117.8 million.