Formula 1 has confirmed that the recently cancelled Chinese GP will not be replaced, with a 28 day gap between the Australian GP and the Azerbaijan GP.
Formula 1 released the 2023 calendar, with the omission of the Chinese GP and no replacement. This confirms that the 2023 season will be 23 races, with the season beginning on the weekend of the 3rd to 5th March and ending in Abu Dhabi GP in November.
CHINESE GP CANCELLATION AND POTENTIAL REPLACEMENTS
The Chinese GP has not been on the calendar since 2019, when Lewis Hamilton took the win against his then teammate Bottas and Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) in third. The Covid 19 pandemic halted any further Grand Prix, however this seemed to be a thing of the past due to the addition of the Chinese GP on the 2023 provisional calendar, this was short lived when Formula 1 announced the cancellation of the GP due to the countries Covid policy making running the event impractical.
Attention soon turned to which tracks would be in line to slot into the gap. Since Covid arrived the Portimao has been in the forefront of most peoples list. The Portuguese track was a favourite among the Formula 1 paddock and fans due to the “Old School” nature of the track, with its fast sweeping corners and undulations.
According to an article published by The Race another option was to push the Azerbaijan GP back one week to the 23rd April. This would reduce the gap and also removing the back to back with the Miami GP.
Until today Formula 1 had only confirmed that they were looking into options regarding the cancellation of the Chinese GP.
CONFIRMATION OF THE 2023 CALENDAR
Formula 1 announced today they would not be replacing the Chinese GP, confirming that there will be 23 races in 2023.
In addition to the loss of the race, there will now be a 28 day gap between the Australian GP and the Azerbaijan GP, one of the longest non-winter break gaps between races in recent times.