No replacement for Russian GP as F1 schedule stays at 22 races
Formula 1 has opted not to replace the cancelled Russian Grand Prix with a new event on September 25, leaving the 2022 calendar at 22 races.
The decision creates a gap of two free weekends between the end of the European season at Monza on September 11, and the start of the run of six flyaway races in Singapore on October 2.
The Sochi event was cancelled, along with the event’s ongoing contract, shortly after the Russian attack on Ukraine began.
F1 immediately began looking for alternative venues in a bid to keep this year’s total at 23 events.
One early contender was Qatar. The country hosted a race last year at the Doha track, and will return to the schedule in 2023. It had planned to skip this year due to its commitment to the FIFA World Cup.
It was thought that the September date would be early enough to avoid a clash with preparations for the football tournament, but there were concerns about the extreme heat and the potential impact on the crowd.
Over the Melbourne weekend the possibility of a second race in Singapore emerged, to precede the traditional grand prix by a week and possibly be held at an earlier time of day.
There were also potential candidates in Europe, with Hockenheim offering to host the return of the German GP.
However, logistical issues mean that it was impossible for the F1 circus to transfer straight from a European venue to Singapore.
The key to any deal was the financing. F1 is in a very different situation to the past two years, when some venues had cheap or even free deals in a bid to keep up the number of races.
Given the general level of inflation worldwide and dramatic rises in freight costs, a new race would have had to make financial sense for both the teams and for F1 itself.
In the end none of the options fitted the bill, and F1 decided not to run a 23rd race.
The confirmation will be well received by the teams, who are facing the challenge of keeping below the budget cap while developing their brand new cars in the context of what will still be a hectic schedule.
Related video
Is F1 heading for a budget cap showdown over Red Bull/Ferrari development war?
Why de Vries' FP1 outing could add a new path to his current crossroads
Aston Martin: CFD data shows F1 rear wing does not hurt rules intent
Aston Martin says simulation data it gave to the FIA proved that its radical rear wing idea did not scupper the intent of Formula 1's 2023 rules to improve racing.
When Indycar conquered F1 - Monzanapolis
Imagine a race between the best of Formula 1 and Indycar drivers.
The strange tyre travails faced by F1’s past heroes
Modern grand prix drivers like to think the tyres they work with are unusually difficult and temperamental. But, says MAURICE HAMILTON, their predecessors faced many of the same challenges – and some even stranger…
US fan demand can support "many more" F1 races, says COTA chief
The boss of the Circuit of The Americas believes there is enough demand from North American Formula 1 fans to support “many more” races in the United States.
The strange tyre travails faced by F1’s past heroes
Modern grand prix drivers like to think the tyres they work with are unusually difficult and temperamental. But, says MAURICE HAMILTON, their predecessors faced many of the same challenges – and some even stranger…
The returning fan car revolution that could suit F1
Gordon Murray's Brabham BT46B 'fan car' was Formula 1 engineering at perhaps its most outlandish. Now fan technology has been successfully utilised on the McMurtry Speirling at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, could it be adopted by grand prix racing once again?
Hamilton's first experience of turning silver into gold
The seven-time F1 champion has been lumbered with a duff car before the 2022 Mercedes. Back in 2009, McLaren’s alchemists transformed the disastrous MP4-24. And now it’s happening again at his current team
Why few would blame Leclerc if he leaves Ferrari in future
OPINION: Ferrari's numerous strategy blunders, as well as some of his own mistakes, have cost Charles Leclerc dearly in the 2022 Formula 1 title battle in the first half of the season. Though he is locked into a deal with Ferrari, few could blame Leclerc if he ultimately wanted to look elsewhere - just as Lewis Hamilton did with McLaren 10 years prior.
The other McLaren exile hoping to follow Perez's path to a top F1 seat
After being ditched by McLaren earlier in his F1 career Sergio Perez fought his way back into a seat with a leading team. BEN EDWARDS thinks the same could be happening to another member of the current grid
How studying Schumacher helped make Coulthard a McLaren F1 mainstay
Winner of 13 grands prix including Monaco and survivor of a life-changing plane crash, David Coulthard could be forgiven for having eased into a quiet retirement – but, as MARK GALLAGHER explains, in fact he’s busier than ever, running an award-winning media company and championing diversity in motor racing. Not bad for someone who, by his own admission, wasn’t quite the fastest driver of his generation…
Could F1 move to a future beyond carbon fibre?
Formula 1 has ambitious goals for improving its carbon footprint, but could this include banishing its favoured composite material? Pat Symonds considers the alternatives to carbon fibre and what use, if any, those materials have in a Formula 1 setting
The traits that fuelled Alonso's unexpected Aston Martin F1 move
Fernando Alonso’s bombshell switch to Aston Martin sent shockwaves through Formula 1, not least at Alpine that finds itself tangled in a contract standoff with Oscar Piastri. Not shy of a bold career move and with a CV punctuated by them, there were numerous hints that trouble was brewing.