Formula 1 officially returns to Turkey in 2027. The Turkish presidency confirmed Friday that Istanbul Park has secured a long-term deal to host the Grand Prix for at least five years, with F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali and FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem present at the announcement alongside President Erdogan.
The circuit last hosted a race in 2021 as a pandemic-era replacement. Negotiations to bring it back stalled in 2022, partly because hosting rights cost tens of millions of dollars, a level competitors like Qatar could more easily finance.
Istanbul Back on the Grid
The timing is deliberate. Turkey has been aggressively repositioning itself as a hub for major international events, and the F1 deal fits that strategy cleanly. A Formula 1 weekend typically draws hundreds of thousands of international tourists to Istanbul, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in direct local revenue. With over 1.5 billion annual viewers, the race also functions as a premier showcase for Istanbul’s sports tourism push — one the government has been building toward for years across football, athletics, and motorsport.
Domenicali described Istanbul as “a cultural gateway between Europe and Asia” with a forward-thinking approach to sport, business, and entertainment, language that maps directly onto Turkey’s broader ambition to attract high-value foreign spending as its economy works to stabilize the lira and rebuild external confidence. Erdogan’s personal presence at the announcement underlines how far up the agenda this sits. This is not a municipal decision. It was signed at the level of the presidency.
The 2027 race will be the 10th edition of the Turkish Grand Prix and the 24th event on that year’s calendar. For Liberty Media, the return strengthens F1’s footprint in the Euro-Asian corridor at a moment when the sport is actively seeking geographic diversification beyond its traditional European core. Africa and Southeast Asia remain targets on Liberty’s expansion map, but Turkey offers something neither can yet match: proven infrastructure, an established fanbase, and a government willing to write the check.