Formula One announces revised calendar for remainder of 2021 season

Formula One (F1) announced a revised calendar for the remainder of the 2021 season on Saturday. This comes after the announcement earlier this month that the Japanese Grand Prix was cancelled due to a troublesome coronavirus situation in the Asian nation. The new schedule has a total of 22 races, a record-breaking number for a single season. A number of existing races have also been shifted to other dates. The Dutch GP, the Italian GP at Monza, and the Russian GP. Following these races, the Turkish GP that was initially scheduled for October 3 will now be held on October 10. That one will be followed by the United States GP on October 24 

 The United States GP will be followed by the Brazilian GP and Mexican GP. Both races have been puhsed back by a week and will take place on November 7 and November 14 respectively. There will then be another event on November 21, at a circuit yet to be announced, before the season finishes with the first ever Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at Jeddah on December 5, and the finale at Abu Dhabi on December 12.

Formula One President and CEO Stefano Domenicali said that he was confident of F1 delivering 22 races despite there being a global pandemic. The pandemic is the reason why the Japanese GP was cancelled in the first place. “We are very pleased to announce the updates to the 2021 calendar following extensive discussions with the promoters and national authorities,” he said. “The pandemic continues to present the season with challenges but we have proven we can adapt and we are confident we can deliver a record breaking 22 races this year despite a global pandemic,” Domenicali added.

“I want to thank the promoters in Brazil, Mexico and Turkey for their patience and flexibility and we will provide the details of the final addition soon. This season is proving to be an incredible battle on the track and this is hugely exciting for our fans around the world and we look forward to the intensity continuing in the races ahead,” ge concluded.

The competition is all set to resume on August 29 after a long summer break. The race after the break will be at Spa for the Belgian Grand Prix. All eyes will be back on the incredible championship battle that is underway between Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull driver Max Verstappen. Both Hamilton and Mercedes lead Verstappen and Red Bull in the driver’s and constructor’s championships respectively. However, the lead is slim. Hamilton only leads Verstappen by eight points, which is a margin that can drastically change with just one race.

The last race before the competition went on was an incredibly dramatic affair at the Hungaroring in the Hungarian Grand Prix. That race was won by Alpine driver Esteban Ocon, who recorded his first race victory in F1. Hamilton came second while Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz managed to finish in third place. There was also a masterclass of defending by veteran Fernando Alonso against Hamilton on the day. It was Alonso’s stubborn defence that prevented Hamilton from winning the race.