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
The small change that will be F1 2021's big talking point As focus sharpens for Formula 1 teams on the new, yet familiar, 2021 cars there is a growing understanding that this year one minor rule tweak will actually create a major challenge F1
Why Renault's survivor wasn't part of Alpine's plans Even the most skilled and ambitious political operators can come a cropper when organisations change. STUART CODLING reflects on the departure from Renault of Cyril Abiteboul F1
Where F1's calendar shuffling hurts its new drivers OPINION: Formula 1 endured major scheduling challenges thanks to the pandemic in 2020, but still managed to save its season. These difficulties remain in 2021 and create a tough knock-on effect for the championship's new arrivals F1
The image battle facing F1's 'nice guy' He's had his fingers burned by social media's keyboard warriors who have trouble appreciating that he's only human. But after two years in the intense spotlight Formula 1 brings, Lando Norris has no plans to change his outlook F1
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