After much speculation, Formula 1 has revealed the race calendar for the 2021season. The season will start in Australia in March and finish in Abu Dhabi in December as normal, but this year it will feature a new addition- a race in Saudi Arabia.
The Vietnamese Grand Prix is absent with a replacement race still to be confirmed for the 25 April, while the Brazilian Grand Prix remains at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace despite rumours of the race switching to a new track in Rio de Janiero.
A statement from F1 read: “Our hosts for 2021 are reassured by our safe return to racing this season and confident that the plans and procedures we have in place will allow us to return to a level of normality for the 2021 season.
“As we have said before, we expect fans to return for the 2021 season and for the calendar to look similar to the originally planned 2020 season. We will continue to work closely with our promoters and partners and look forward to the start of the season on the 18th March 2021 in Australia.”
Formula 1 has excelled this year. After the coronavirus pandemic hit the sporting world, F1 was one of the first global sports to return to ‘normality’ after a hiatus that was three months longer than usual.
This brilliance has not faded for next year, and the calendar brings fresh additions whilst also retaining classic tracks. Although some have questioned the morality of an F1 race in Jeddah, the new night-race agreement will go ahead for the penultimate round of the 2021 championship and Saudi Arabia will become the 33rd country to host a grand prix.
Chase Carey– who is the current 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 honoured.
“We have proven that we can safely travel and operate our races and our promoters increasingly recognise 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 at in 2020. We want to thank all our promoters and partners for their ongoing enthusiasm and collaboration and look forward to giving our fans an exciting season on the track.”
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)
*Subject to contract
