Formula 1 has exploded in popularity over the last decade and with it, interest from corners of the globe previously with little enthusiasm for the sport has skyrocketed. One man with a front row seat to this aggressive expansion of Formula 1 around the world is 2009 World Champion Jenson Button.
The Paddock Chronicle got the chance to speak with the World Champion ahead of the British Grand Prix, at an event hosted by global ticket marketplace, Viagogo , about this and where he hopes to see Formula 1 go next.
Formula 1’s Continued Expansion
When the Liberty Media Corporation took over Formula 1 in 2017, nobody was quite sure what to expect. But through a combination of developing the Netflix series ‘Drive to Survive’ and making consistent efforts to appeal to a younger and more diverse demographic, Formula 1 has continued to grow year on year. As a result, Formula 1 has visited eleven new circuits across nine countries with Madrid becoming the twelfth new venue to host a Grand Prix later this season. Those have included the Turkish Grand Prix (set to return next year), the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
“I love the way the sport’s grown. You know, we’re going to countries, we’re experiencing different cultures that we never were before…For any racing driver, we’re so lucky, because we’ve got the easiest job in the paddock. And we get to travel around the world on someone else’s dime, and get paid to race cars. I mean, it’s the best job in the world, so I love that we have a lot of different countries involved in the sport.” – Jenson Button
Rediscovering an Old Favourite
Formula 1 already visited a number of other countries before Liberty Media’s takeover during the Bernie Ecclestone era. Back then, countries such as Malaysia and South Korea were on the calendar and the sport visited other venues to hold Grand Prix such as the streets of Valencia and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. But it’s another of those that Jenson hopes we get to revisit in the near future.
“I really enjoyed India, I have to say. The circuit itself was pretty awesome, you know, the fast-flowing nature of it.” – Jenson Button
The Indian Grand Prix was held on three occasions at the Buddh International Circuit and is perhaps best remembered as the venue at which Sebastian Vettel won his fourth and final World Championship when racing for Red Bull in 2013. Button performed well in two of the three races held there with a best result of second place, just behind Vettel, in 2011. The venue hasn’t been on the calendar since 2013 and an Indian driver in Formula 1 hasn’t been seen since Karun Chandhok in 2011. Currently, Kush Maini races for India in Formula 2 while Racing Bulls driver Arvid Lindblad has Indian heritage.
The Data Backs This Up
India is a venue that is often searched for by fans of the sport too, demonstrating that the appetite is potentially there. Formula 1 and Liberty just need to make sure that they avoid the mistakes of the past that led to it being such a short lived Grand Prix last time around, such as track maintenance, affordable tickets and effective marketing.
Viagogo, an online ticketing platform that helps millions of fans attend events every year and facilities tickets to be transferred when ticket holders can no longer attend. It operates across 195 countries across 49 currencies and measures demand across the world year on year.
“Certainly the searches and the interest, as Jenson mentioned, for an Indian race has always been high.” – Shaun Stewart, Viagogo
From 2023 until 2025, India was ranked in fifth place as the market with the biggest F1 ticket sales growth.
Somewhere Old, Somewhere New
But it’s not just India that Jenson has his eye on – and not just because of his own personal preference for the location in question.
“Argentina…I love my meat! Argentina has to be one of the circuits that I would love on the calendar. I’ve never been to Argentina, but I’ve heard great things, and their fan base is through the roof, as was mentioned earlier. So, I think for the sport as a whole, that’s probably the next step for growing the sport.” – Jenson Button
The last time Formula 1 went racing in Argentina was in 1998 with Michael Schumacher winning for Ferrari. Prior to Franco Colapinto’s arrival into Formula 1 last season when he joined Alpine, Argentina hadn’t had a driver representing their country on the grid since Gastón Mazzacane in 2001.
With Formula 1 on the rise again in South America, thanks too to drivers such as Bortoleto and Peréz in F1, Joshua Dürksen in Formula 2 and Rafaela Ferreria in F1 Academy, it would make sense for Formula 1 to at least investigate the possibility of having another Grand Prix somewhere in South America. In the same study that measured growing markets for Formula 1 tickets between 2023 and 2025, Argentina came out on top as the biggest growing market, ahead of both China and Turkey.
Fan Favourites Still Resonate
The data tells us too though that it’s not just new venues that the fans of Formula 1 want to see. There’s still a lot of love for venues that we’ll either be seeing less of in the years to come or are being dropped from the calendar altogether.
“But there’s also tracks that are dropping off the calendar that have been fan favourites. Like, some of our highest ticket increase in price has come from Zandvoort, as an example, this year. It’s one of my favourite tracks and it’s the last year in the Netherlands for the Dutch Grand Prix and so I think you’re also seeing fans tell you where they wish races would continue versus coming off the calendar. I think we just had our last Catalunya as well, which is such a shame. It’s gonna be exciting to see what gets added to the calendar.” – Shaun Stewart, Viagogo
Zandvoort and Catalunya are just two examples of that. Interestingly, from a study conducted by Viagogo, neither location cracked into the top ten in 2025 for F1 races either with the most unique buyer countries or F1 races with the biggest growth in oversea attendees. All of this offers a fascinating insight into how Formula 1 and Liberty Media decide which venues stay on the calendar, which ones get cut and where the sport may visit next.
With Formula 1 also introducing a rotation format for some Grand Prix, including Catalunya and Spa from 2027 onwards, that will add a fascinating element to how the F1 calendar continues to evolve in the years and decades to come.
Will Formula 1 and Liberty make Jenson’s dream come true and return to India and Argentina in the years to come? The market is there for both – now we’ll just have to wait and see.
Formula 1 Returns July 17th at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium.
Feature Image: Red Bull Content Pool