F1 decided not to fill the slot for the F1 Chinese GP, which was decided to be canceled. The 2023 F1 World Championship has been confirmed with 23 races.
Initially, the 2023 F1 World Championship was scheduled to have 24 races, but the F1 China GP, which was incorporated on April 16, was temporarily canceled. However, due to the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions in China, it was decided that the race could not take place.
The cancellation of the F1 Chinese Grand Prix has created a huge gap between the F1 Australian Grand Prix on April 2nd and the F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix on April 30th.
F1 has weighed the option of moving the Azerbaijan race forward and away from the back-to-back Miami Grand Prix, or finding an alternative race.
But F1’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix chief has been reluctant to move the event forward, fearing bad weather in Baku, which is usually chilly and windy in April.
With Portimao in Portugal leading to a return to F1, other options were considered, but the idea did not make much progress.
Chinese officials had hoped to put the race back on the calendar at some point this year, either on its original date or by swapping the April slot for another venue, but now that too has been ruled out.
As such, F1 has announced that the 2023 season will be limited to 23 races.
“F1 announces that the 2023 season will consist of 23 races. All existing race dates on the calendar remain unchanged.”
This means a three-week gap between the races in Melbourne and Baku.
The reduction to a schedule of 23 races has several implications in terms of limiting the components that F1 teams can use.
When it comes to gearboxes, the 23-race schedule means F1 teams are limited to four gearboxes for the season, but an additional gearbox if the calendar runs for 24 races. was available.
However, the number of F1 power units available will not change with the number of races held. Each driver can use three main components (ICE, MGU-K, MGU-H and Turbo) throughout the year.
2023 F1 Calendar
