Formula 1 has announced a 23-race calendar for the 2021 season starting in mid-March in Australia and finishing in Abu Dhabi in December. It will also feature the first-ever World Championship race in Saudi Arabia.
F1 became the first international sport to resume during the Covid-19 pandemic. A revised calendar of 17 races was introduced by F1 to finish the 2020 season. The decision was taken after extensive discussion with F1’s promoters, teams, and the FIA.
Provisional 2021 F1 calendar:
- 21 March – Australia (Melbourne)
- 28 March – Bahrain (Sakhir)
- 11 April – China (Shanghai)
- 25 April – TBC (TBC)
- 9 May – Spain (Barcelona)
- 23 May – Monaco (Monaco)
- 6 June – Azerbaijan (Baku)
- 13 June – Canada (Montreal)
- 27 June – France (Le Castellet)
- 4 July – Austria (Spielberg)
- 18 July – United Kingdom (Silverstone)
- 1 August – Hungary (Budapest)
- 29 August – Belgium (Spa)
- 5 September – Netherlands (Zandvoort)
- 12 September – Italy (Monza)
- 26 September – Russia (Sochi)
- 3 October – Singapore (Singapore)
- 10 October – Japan (Suzuka)
- 24 October – USA (Austin)
- 31 October – Mexico (Mexico City)
- 14 November – Brazil (Sao Paulo)
- 28 November – Saudi Arabia (Jeddah)
- 5 December – Abu Dhabi (Abu Dhabi)
The calendar will remain provisional until it is signed off by the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council. The Vietnam Grand Prix will reportedly not go-ahead next year following the arrest in August of Hanoi People’s Committee chairman Nguyen Duc Chung.
Chase Carey, Chairman and CEO of Formula 1, said, “We are pleased to announce the 2021 Formula 1 provisional calendar after extensive conversations with our promoters, the teams, and the FIA. We are planning for 2021 events with fans that provide an experience close to normal and expect our agreements to be honored. We have proven that we can safely travel and operate our races and our promoters increasingly recognize the need to move forward and manage the virus. In fact, many hosts actually want to use our event as a platform to show the world they are moving forward. We are delighted to see Saudi Arabia become part of the schedule and are equally excited to return to the venues we hoped to race in 2020.”
The tournament is set to start on March 18, 2021. F1 and the FIA have made sure that strong health and safety measures will be followed throughout the campaign. The hosts are sure about organizing races and bring normalcy to the competition. Fans are also expected to return for the 2021 season.