Why F1 has made a key U-turn on classic races

The message was clear. "We are very excited about adding Germany and France [to the 2018 Formula 1 calendar]," said F1 commercial chief Sean Bratches. "They are two markets that we are going back to and we never want to leave."

For France, it will be a return to the F1 calendar for the first time since 2008, with Paul Ricard playing host. Germany returns after a one-year absence, with a race at Hockenheim.

It marks a huge turnaround from F1's Bernie Ecclestone era, when the 86-year-old's stance was that European races needed to "wake up" and work harder to keep their place on the calendar considering competition from the likes of Russia, Asia and the Middle East.

New owner Liberty Media seems to 'get it'.

"We think they [France and Germany] are very important in terms of the heritage of the sport and serving fans," says Bratches. "We look at Europe as a unique cradle of Formula 1 history and we want to put our shoulder behind the right markets at the right venues."

Liberty has no intention of giving away promotion rights. But it does seem to understand that it can't expect to charge vast fees or tie venues into contracts with wallet-busting escalators, because ultimately they won't be able to sustain it.

It has identified key markets in which it wants F1 to be present - Europe, Asia and North and Latin America. Within that, it has started to shortlist countries and venues.

The difference between the old era and now is that while Ecclestone would seek out the highest bidder, pricing out heritage circuits in Europe but allowing cash-rich countries whose governments could pay vast sums to bring F1 to their shores to put them on the world map, Liberty is taking a different approach.

"We want to be a little bit more proactive and go on the offensive in terms of the markets where we go," says Bratches. "I've got an economic impact study in the marketplace right now to really understand the benefits of bringing the Formula 1 circus to a city, a country, a municipality, a principality.

"So as we start identifying an optimal calendar in optimal regions, we can go down and sit with cities and make our case as opposed to what has been a little bit more reactive to bids coming in."

That means the circuits and countries that are in contention are the ones that F1 bosses believe will enhance the racing and be positive for the championship - not the ones with the biggest chequebooks.

F1 chairman Chase Carey has already said a race in New York is high on his agenda. Meanwhile, Long Beach - which switched from F1 to what was then CART Indycar in 1984 and remains an IndyCar venue today - has emerged as a potential West Coast option.

The city has opened a tender for bids to hold a race on its streets, with the current contract expiring at the end of next year. Currently, there are two bids on the table - one to retain IndyCar and another to bring F1 back. These are currently being discussed.

Talks have also begun with Turkey about an F1 return for the popular Istanbul Park circuit. Its quad-apex Turn 8 left-hander quickly gained acclaim as one of the best corners of the schedule when the track made its debut in 2005. Turkish president Recept Tayyip Erdogan met with Carey earlier this year to discuss bringing F1 back for the first time since 2011.

Track operator Vural Ak claimed that meetings went "really well" and "we agreed in principles, although the contract hasn't been signed".

Autosport has learned Portugal has entered talks about bringing F1 back. Estoril played host to F1 for the final time back in 1996, but it is the Algarve circuit that is now being lined up. The Portuguese government is keen on F1. The country went through a tough period economically but is now on the up.

With that in mind, the government is keen to explore how F1 can return to provide a further boost to the country and is in a position to provide funding, but only if the price is right. And it is aware that several countries are keen to do business with F1's new owner.

Importantly, Turkey and Portugal have entered talks with government-backing while the returning French GP has support from the Provence-Apes-Cote d'Azur region in association with the city of Toulon and the French motorsport association. It is that support that is crucial to provide the foundation required for the race to last long-term.

There is also willingness from Liberty to have conversations and maintain relationships with those circuits it already has deals with. Under the previous regime, a deal was done and the venue was left to get on with finding a way to fulfil it. Further conversations were limited to when it was time to discuss a renewal.

Now, it is believed promoters are more relaxed about the situation. They feel they can pick up the phone and someone will answer. There is constant communication and a feeling that Liberty wants to help the individual promoters make it work.

It is for that reason that Silverstone has not given up hope of retaining the British GP. As it stands, Silverstone has a contract that runs until 2026, with owner the British Racing Drivers' Club able to exercise a break clause, which allows it to end the deal at the 10-race mark (after the 2019 event) without penalty.

It's a decision that has to be made ahead of this year's race. The BRDC is almost certainly going to activate that clause, but that does not mean the end of F1 at Silverstone.

The race will continue this year and in 2018 and '19. That will give the BRDC and Liberty time to discuss a fresh deal, that does not have the same escalator that threatens to financially cripple the track. Silverstone wants F1 and Liberty wants Silverstone. So a deal will likely be done.

"I'm not going to comment on ongoing negotiations," says Bratches. "But we have a great relationship with our friends at Silverstone and we have a great product and we both have options and we'll see how this plays out.

"We've got a grand prix coming up at Silverstone where they are the promoters, immutably for three more years through the 2019 grand prix season regardless of what transpires. And we are going to be focused on growing the sport and serving fans here and at the other grands prix.

"You can always negotiate. We have an agreement with Silverstone that was done between competent parties in an arm's length negotiation and we'll see what happens."

Liberty knows what races are important. It's why Monaco will likely continue to escape without paying any fee and why Australia and Singapore were among two of the first the new owners visited, skipping out Malaysia, when they wanted to reassure certain circuits of their futures in F1.

Talks with Singapore were of particular importance as the venue had started to reconsider its place on the calendar. The night race on the island has become synonymous grand prix racing, but more importantly its departure would leave F1 without a race in southeast Asia for the first time in two decades. That would be unthinkable for Liberty.

F1 sporting chief Ross Brawn and Bratches are in the process of piecing together next year's calendar, which will be 21 races. It is believed it isn't far off being finalised, with Liberty keen to issue it as soon as possible. It wants to avoid several drafts being issued, as has been the case in the past, before a finalised one is rubber-stamped.

Beyond next season, Liberty wants more races but Brawn has said it will prioritise quality over quantity of races.

Bratches adds: "We want to work in partnership with our teams in terms of determining where we go but our view is that we'd like to go above 21.

"This takes a toll, both physically, emotionally and economically. And what we do has to take all that into consideration and we have to work closely with our partners on the team front to find out what the high-water mark is and what makes sense for everyone."

One things Bratches feels would ease the load is to reduce the number of back-to-back events, although that could mean an earlier start and later finish to the year or the eradication of the summer break. And it would also put further pressure on teams to rotate staff to reduce the risk of burnout.

"We're trying to be respectful to everyone in F1 to ensure everyone has an appropriate break with their families and some downtime," says Bratches. "We don't want to have too many back-to-backs. We're trying to align these things better by territory - the European races, the American races, the Asian races - but it gets difficult in terms of the weather and managing contractual guard rails."

But Liberty wants to be sympathetic to circuit wishes. For example, Singapore and Malaysia did not want to be too close together in the schedule, while United States venue Austin would like a bigger gap to Mexico, because the US promoter feels their current closeness impacts ticket sales.

"We are trying to ensure all the participants in this sport have really good businesses," says Bratches. "We don't want to align grands prix that will be cannibalistic to one another."

Of course it is all talk until deals with venues are done and the new calendar is published. But the initial signs are good for F1 and those who feared it was starting to price out the races that have made it what it is today.