Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has revealed that the cancelled Chinese Grand Prix wasn’t replaced due to it not being worth the hassle for all the teams, given that 2023 is already a record-breaking season.
23 races are set to take place this year, in what is a record for the pinnacle of motorsport.
It was supposed to be a 24-race season, before the Chinese GP was cancelled once again following their strict COVID-19 policies.
Interestingly, the nation soon dropped their approach to the Coronavirus and asked for the race to be reinstated, given that team members wouldn’t face any issues.
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This created an issue for F1, who’d started discussions with Portugal and Turkey over filling in for China.
It was looking very likely that the Portuguese Grand Prix was going to be introduced once again; however, the sport ultimately decided against replacing the Chinese GP with another venue.
Keeping the race as cancelled was the best option for “F1 and our teams” Domenicali revealed, with the “economic benefit” of replacing the Chinese GP not being worth the challenges of getting all the equipment to the circuit.
“The 23-race calendar is a record for F1,” said Domenicali, as reported by RaceFans.
“We made the decision not to replace China on the calendar [as] the economic benefit of a replacement race was not worth the logistical and sustainability considerations for F1 and our teams.”
One of the reasons why a replacement venue was being seriously considered, is because an odd problem has now appeared on the calendar, a four-week break.
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With the Australian Grand Prix taking place on April 2 and the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on April 30, all the teams and drivers will effectively have a ‘Spring break’, with the Chinese GP having been scheduled to take place between the two mentioned races.
It means that after the first three races of the season, fans will have to wait a while until they see the cars on-track again; however, it could give any teams who struggle a chance to overcome their issues ahead of Azerbaijan.
This could result in the pecking order being changed slightly in Baku, with Mercedes being one of the sides set to introduce a major upgrade package at the circuit which hurt them so dearly last season.