These days, if a country's wallet is big enough, it can buy a place on the Formula 1 calendar. Russia came on board last year and Azerbaijan is pencilled in for a debut in 2016.
Developing a location into an F1 venue that fans, teams and drivers love is much tougher - just ask the promoters who attempted races in Valencia or South Korea.
So perhaps they could have learned a thing or two from Monaco, one of F1's oldest and most popular venues.
Why F1's under-fire rookie is already causing surprises Sergey Sirotkin's deal to drive for Williams, at the expense of Robert Kubica, was met with a great deal of animosity, and means he'll be one of the most scrutinised drivers in F1 this season. The early signs are that he's doing everything right F1
How F1 should start and end its season The Winter Olympics kicked off last week with typical fanfare and public awe. Formula 1 could do with a piece of that action to build excitement ahead of a new season F1
Can Bottas convince Mercedes to keep him? Valtteri Bottas has another year at Mercedes, but the likes of Esteban Ocon and Daniel Ricciardo will have an eye on his seat for 2019. Will Bottas respond to that threat with the heroics that marked his early months at Mercedes, or with another slump? F1
What Raikkonen must do to shrug off laggard tag Ferrari has hinted 2018 is Kimi Raikkonen's final, final chance. The statistics suggest the pace is still somewhere within him - but can he turn around the trend of his recent seasons? F1
How a Maranello favourite went out on a high Gerhard Berger's talent warranted more than just 10 grand prix wins, reckons NIGEL ROEBUCK, but he was a class act up until his final race F1
How Berlin's FE finale unveiled DS Techeetah's new rivals With both Formula E titles wrapped up, there wasn't a great deal to play for in the final two Berlin E-Prixs. But with both DS Techeetahs well down the grid, the two races at the Tempelhof Airport allowed two potential challengers to take the limelight FE
Why F1 may get another Mercedes/Red Bull showdown in Spain Attention is fixed on Red Bull after its stunning Silverstone win. The question now is whether it can repeat that result in Spain, where it seems three factors will be critical. Here's why those show another possible Mercedes upset is on at this stage F1
Is the real Dovizioso back after Austria MotoGP practice? Andrea Dovizioso's MotoGP season has so far been tough to swallow. But returning to Ducati's stronghold of the Red Bull Ring for the Austrian Grand Prix appears - at least after Friday's interrupted practice - to have found Dovizioso back at the front MotoGP
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