ANKARA, April 24 — Turkey’s Istanbul Park circuit will return ‌to the Formula One calendar from 2027 for ​at least five years, the Turkish presidency said on Friday, marking the culmination of Turkey’s years-long campaign ‌to return to the sport.

Details of the agreement were not immediately ​available, but President Tayyip Erdogan is set to officially announce the deal at an event on Friday afternoon in Istanbul, alongside F1’s Chief Executive Officer Stefano ​Domenicali and Mohammed Ben Sulayem, president of the sport’s governing body FIA.

The circuit on the Asian side of Istanbul is popular with drivers and fans but last hosted a race in 2021 as a stand-in during the Covid-19 pandemic. ‌

It also hosted grands prix between 2005 and 2011, as well ⁠as in the 2020 season when ⁠Lewis Hamilton won the race to clinch ⁠his seventh world championship, equalling ⁠Michael Schumacher’s ⁠record.

While Turkey continued negotiations to return to the calendar after that event, momentum slowed from 2022 onwards partly due to the tens of ⁠millions of dollars needed to secure a deal that competitors, such as Qatar, were able to finance.

But in 2024, Can Bilim Egitim Kurumlari A.S., part-owned by F1 tyre provider Pirelli’s Turkish branch chairman Lale Cander, earned rights to operate the Istanbul Park circuit ⁠for a 30-year period for some US$117.8 million (RM4466 million).

Under the deal, the new operators were tasked with bringing F1 back in a long-term ⁠deal by 2026, but the talks, carried out jointly with the Turkish ⁠Automobile Sports ⁠Federation (TOSFED), stalled.

In February, Domenicali confirmed that Istanbul Park was close to a ​return to the calendar in rotation ​with an existing race and that ‌the number of races in the season ​would still be capped at ​24. — Reuters