The Formula One calendar has been in doubt since the FIA announced it unilaterally much to FOM’s disapproval. Question marks have persisted over whether the Chinese GP could take place given the country’s ruling parties position over Covid. Repeated city lockdowns and forced detention of Chinese people who have contracted the virus led to Formula One’s Chinese driver Zhou Gunayu suggesting at the 2022 United States GP that his home event could be cancelled.
On December 2nd, the FIA finally announced the event in Shanghai would be dropped from the 2023 F1 calendar only for three weeks later Chianti cancel its zero covid approach.
Chinese F1 promoters request reinstating
The organisers of the Shanghai event then contacted the FIA and FOM this month to request their recent be re-instated for its originally scheduled date in April, though at the time it was widely reported that FOM were looking to replace the Chinese event with one in Portimao in Portugal.
There were concerns expressed that the recent change in policy in China would see a wave of Covid infection rampage through the largely unvaccinated Chinese population and that the probability even in April of F1 personnel being infected would be high.
Formula 1 has now confirmed the record breaking 2023 season will have just 23 race events and the Chinese GP will neither be reinstated or replaced.
Early start to F1 2023 season
The season begins earlier than usual on march 5th in Bahrain following the three day pre-season test before heading to Saudi Arabia.
The 2023 season will kick off on March 5 – an earlier start than usual – in Bahrain before heading to Saudi Arabia.
Following the Australian Grand Prix, the championship will move to the United States of America for the second ever Miami Grand Prix before it heads back to Italy for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix that will take place a week prior to Monaco.
Following the Monaco Grand Prix, the field will move to Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix before making the long trip to Canada. Austria will move forward by a week, kicking off the intense month of July that will incorporate four races within just five weeks.
Last running of the Belgium GP?
Great Britain will be next on the schedule before the championship pops up in Hungary with the Hungarian Grand Prix losing the spot of the last race before the summer break which will now be occupied by Belgium. The race in Spa was due to be dropped from the calendar but has a 1 year extension into 2023 due to the South African GP failing to materialise.
After the restart, the Dutch Grand Prix will kick off the third leg of the season with the Italian Grand Prix twinned with Zandvoort.
Singapore and Japan are set to host races at the end of September before Qatar returns on the 8th of October. The USA will host its second race in Texas at the end of October before the field makes the relatively short trip to Mexico.
Following the Brazilian Grand Prix at Sao Paulo, Las Vegas will make its debut on November 18 – round 23 of the calendar, just before the finale in Abu Dhabi.
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Ayrton Senna, driving a Honda NSX.
Heel Toe shifting, with a pair of loafers on.
Doesn’t get much cooler than this #F1 pic.twitter.com/ozVuTLLkxA
— Crash F1 (@CRASH_NET_F1) January 18, 2023
Chinese GP neither getting reinstated nor replaced is understandable & unsurprising in the end.
The incentive to replace cancelled events is simply lower than in 2020 & ’21, considering Russian GP cancellation didn’t get filled either & another summer-break long gap as a one-off thing isn’t bad.
Algarve would’ve ultimately required WEC’s willingness to move their 6h event from the original Chinese GP weekend, but irrelevant since the most recent development.
Most likely the last Belgian GP (for now, at least), yes.