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The stand-in Turkish Grand Prix has lost its place on the 2021 Formula 1 schedule, with Austria’s Red Bull Ring now hosting a double-header after the latest calendar rejig.
Turkey was only added to the 2021 calendar at the end of April, replacing the Canadian Grand Prix on June 13.
However, the following day Turkey entered its first full lockdown since the coronavirus pandemic began last year.
It was subsequently added to the UK’s ‘red list’, meaning any travellers – including F1 personnel – who returned from Turkey would face a mandatory 10-day hotel quarantine period.
That would have interfered with the following race in France, with personnel released from quarantine on the Wednesday or Thursday of the Paul Ricard race.
There was a suggestion that swapping Turkey and Azerbaijan, the preceding race, would help solve the issue but the Baku round couldn’t be moved because then the grand prix would clash with Baku being a host city for football’s Euro 2020 competition.
It has caused Turkey to drop off the 2021 F1 schedule, although the promoter has requested to be considered for a race later in the year.
F1 has reacted swiftly the keep the number of planned races to 23.
The French Grand Prix will move forward one week to June 20, with Austrian Grand Prix host the Red Bull Ring getting a second race, as it did last year to kick off the delayed 2020 season.
The Paul Ricard date change means the grand prix will now clash with IndyCar’s Road America race, which will prevent Romain Grosjean from completing a planned Mercedes demo run during the event.
But Mercedes has already confirmed that Grosjean’s subsequent test day will be unaffected.
F1 is the second major series to announce a Red Bull Ring double-header today, with MotoGP having done the same a few hours earlier.
Adding another race in Austria – which will again be titled the Styrian Grand Prix – now keeps F1’s rate of races high while it remains in Europe.
There is serious doubt over several grands prix planned for later in the year, with Singapore, Japan, Mexico and Brazil all uncertain due to the ongoing pandemic.
F1 said in a statement that it was grateful for the Turkish promoter’s support and understanding of the situation around travel restrictions, and also thanked the French GP organiser for being flexible in changing the race’s date so close to the event.
“We were all looking forward to racing in Turkey but the travel restrictions in place have meant we are not able to be there in June,” said F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali.
“Formula 1 has shown again that it is able to react quickly to developments and find solutions and we are delighted that we will have a double header in Austria meaning our season remains at 23 races.
“I want to thank the promoter and authorities in Turkey for all of their efforts in recent weeks and want to thank the promoters in France and Austria for their speed, flexibility and enthusiasm in accommodating this solution.
“We have had very good conversations will all the other promoters since the start of the year and continue to work closely with them during this period.”
