Shanghai Grand Prix is set to be dropped from the Formula One calendar in 2022
Image credit: The Independent
When the schedule for next year’s Formula One season is released on Friday, the Chinese Grand Prix is set to be dropped.
Since the coronavirus pandemic began, the Shanghai race has not been held, and the limitations around Covid in China make it impossible to do so. On April 24, it will be replaced by the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola.
To avoid a collision with the football World Cup in Qatar, the championship will end three weeks earlier than this year. It also includes the first race in Miami, a blue-ribbon event held in addition to the US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, in the hopes of increasing F1’s popularity in the United States.
F1 released a 23-race calendar this year, but had to make changes after a number of countries decided they couldn’t stage races in the midst of the pandemic.
Despite the cancellations of events in Australia, China, Canada, Singapore, and Japan, 22 races will be held this year. If the circumstances surrounding the virus alter, Japan, which has managed to bring Covid under control following a summer surge that corresponded with the Tokyo Olympics, is seen as the event most likely to fall.
F1 has been exploring the notion of increasing the number of events using the new sprint format with its governing body, the FIA, and the teams.
Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari believe that sprint events are more expensive because they have two races instead of one, and they want the budget cap to stay at $145 million. If there are six sprint events, rather than being reduced to $140 million as planned.
It has not yet been decided which races would host the sprint events in 2022, but F1 is working on a strategy that includes a mix of traditional events like Silverstone and higher-paying new venues like those in the Middle East. There have also been discussions about increasing the number of points granted in Saturday’s ‘sprint’ race and reversing the decision to award pole position to the sprint race winner rather than the driver who sets the fastest time in qualifying.