Portugal may not replace the Chinese F1 Grand Prix
Dec.5 - Portimao may not be the replacement race for the scratched 2022 Chinese GP.
Formula 1 confirmed reports that due to the "covid-19 situation" in China, the sport's scheduled return to Shanghai after a three-year absence will in fact not take place in April.
"Formula 1 is assessing alternative options to replace the slot on the 2023 calendar and will provide an update on this in due course," a statement read.
The iconic Portimao race track
Reports suggested Portimao in Portugal was lined up as the replacement race, but Auto Motor und Sport thinks it is logistically "nonsensical" for F1 to go from Australia to Portugal and then Baku.
Simply axing China, meanwhile, would leave a gaping four-week gap in the calendar.
Portimao also has a world endurance sportscar six-hour race scheduled on the Shanghai date, leading correspondent Andreas Haupt to surmise that a "stopgap in Asia would be a better alternative".
"Moving Azerbaijan forward by two weeks is said to have also been discussed in Formula 1 Management," he added. "But it's rumoured that there is a high probability that China will be cancelled without replacement."
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I am sure the teams would prefer the gap left by China's exclusion not to be filled.
What a waste of money and resources it would be to travel from Australia to Portugal, then back to Baku. A logistical nightmare! Although the FIA calendar has a number of ridiculous concurrent locations, e.g Baku to Miami, then back to Imola all in 3 weeks. Also Barcelona to Montreal, then back to Spielberg in 4 weeks.
The Portuguese GP would be a standalone event anyway, so a non-issue & the same with others as long as truck (i.e., European) & flyaway events don't get paired on consecutive weekends.
I have a few option to solve it. Maybe they can do a second GP in Australia on the Mount Panorama circuit. I also wouldn't mind to see them go back to Sepang and do the Malaysian GP!
Mount Panorama is an awesome circuit that would sort out the men from the boys!
However, the problem is that Bathurst, the town where Mount Panorama is located, doesn't have the infrastructure to cater for a race the size of an F1 event.
Sepang would be a good option! A proven circuit.
".....it is logistically "nonsensical" for F1 to go from Australia to Portugal and then Baku."
When has that ever stopped them?
It never did, but F1 seems to want to shoot themselves in the foot nowadays, by claiming to be more sustainable... Racing and sustainability is not possible if you ask me. So my advice will be, don't try to be and keep far away from it, so you won't make a foul of yourselfs.
The more races, the more chance of a cancellation with less flexibility and situations like this , its not rocket science, liberty couldn't care less about it , Ror was and is spot on $$$$$$$$$$, all this crap fills the time in before the season starts in just 88 days i suppose .
Shrop' one thing for sure, Liberty is not going to accept a 4 week gap early in the season. I haven't even looked at the '23 schedule (obviously, since Jere caught me out not knowing there is a Qatar race), but Maffei will screech until he has a full calendar.
You know, ROR, being old pharts we have had the advantage of seeing F1 when it was a sport in which gentlemen raced alongside playboys, all had respect for each other and there was a shared camaraderie across the board.
Today F1 is totally a business in which there are lots of prima donnas (Louise being a good example) and camaraderie has disappeared. I think it's sad to see the demise of F1 as a sport. However, recent followers of F1 wouldn't know any better, I guess!
Smokey, you have just dredged up a trove of wonderful racing memories. The camaraderie was a huge part of the racing. The wins don't mean near as much. Thx.
It might have something to do that in those days, every race could be your last and F1 careers didn't last that long. Look at Stewart,he only did 100 races, while Leclerc already has driven more races!
What's with this sudden contradictory article?
Make up your minds, but seriously, logistically nonsensical, how? Nothing wrong with having a European location between two flyaway ones in consecutive order as long as the European one is standalone, which would be the case here anyway.
Issues would only arise with consecutive weekend pairings.
WEC's 6H event on the original Chinese GP weekend can get moved with enough notice, so this aspect should be a non-issue unless they'd be adamant about keeping the originally-scheduled weekend like Baku about April's last weekend.
Asia doesn't really have any viable options at this notice, so another summer break-long interval is likely unless Algarve or another European circuit, e.g., Paul Ricard, Jerez, etc., replaces Shanghai.
a summer break with the season maybe 50% done as Ror says is ok , the pots half boiled,but right at the start of the season, not as attractive to spark interest for new fans/mugs who are paying to watch the circus, this craps written by journos because there's no other Real F1 news
Quoted from Smokey -----Today F1 is totally a business in which there are lots of prima donnas (Louise being a good example) and camaraderie has disappeared. I think it's sad to see the demise of F1 as a sport. However, recent followers of F1 wouldn't know any better, I guess
Agreed with a young grid and race watching fanbase on a phone, but when did it turn into this monster Bernie?, the eighties?, the nineties?certainly Nige argued about money, honestly though i couldn't care less, my thoughts are with the Ukrainian people, not about flyaway
Np it ws 99 races
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