The Formula 1 race planned for April 16 in China has finally been canceled and will not be replaced by any other Grand Prix. Formula 1 announced this on Tuesday afternoon. This leaves the 23 races currently scheduled for the 2023 Formula 1 season.
The race in Shanghai was originally supposed to be held as the fourth round of the season, but was then removed from the official calendar due to the strict corona rules in the country. In the meantime, however, China has relaxed its corona policy somewhat: Since January 8th, travelers no longer have to be in quarantine.
For this reason those responsible in Shanghai were hopeful that the race could find its way back onto the calendar after all. The first internal talks are said to have taken place at the end of December, but due to the winter break in Europe, talks with Formula 1 are said to have only taken place last week.
Although Formula 1 does not officially give a reason for the final cancellation of the race, it would have been quite difficult logistically to hold the race on its original date. Because the teams are already well advanced with the logistical planning for the start of the season and should have shipped the freight at the beginning of February.
Due to the cancellation, China will be missing from the Formula 1 calendar for the fourth time in a row in 2023. The last race in 2019 was the 1,000th. of Formula 1 history before the corona pandemic put an end to the Grand Prix for the time being: at the beginning of 2020 it was the first race to be canceled. Since then it has not found its way back into the calendar.
At the same time, Formula 1 announces that no other Grand Prix will step in and that all other races will keep their previous dates. In the meantime there have been considerations to bring the next race in Baku forward, but that will not happen. There is therefore a gap of three free weekends between Melbourne (April 2nd) and Baku (April 30th).
The planned mammoth season of 24 Grands Prix will thus be shortened by one race, but with 23 races we are still facing the longest season of all time ( on the 2023 Formula 1 calendar ).
This article was written by Norman Fischer
The original of this article “Official: Formula 1 cancels the 2023 Chinese Grand Prix without replacement” comes from Motorsport-Total.com.
