The 2023 season is just weeks away from the summer break, with three important race weekends lying ahead. The Red Bull Ring is now behind us, Silverstone is upon us, and the F1 circus will finish the triple-header in Hungary.
Formula 1 will then race in Spa before the summer break, which will then resume immediately after with the Dutch GP at the end of August. The time for the FIA, Liberty Media and F1 to think about the future has already arrived.
The 2024 projects have been launched at the factory, and thus F1 has formalised what will be next year’s calendar.
24 Race Calendar: Tests at the end of February, start in March and last race on November 24th
Bahrain will continue to open the season. Not only the first race in the first week of March, but like this year, the three-day test at the Sakhir circuit will take place seven days before the first round.
The ‘formula’ of this year was therefore confirmed, without granting further days of testing, and placing the inaugural race a week after the debut of the cars on the track. Peculiarities of next year: to respect the Ramadam regime, the race in Jeddah will be held on Saturday.
This change also implies that Bahrain – being a back-to-back – also brings forward the opening race of the season to Saturday.
The number of Grand Prix races increases to 24 with the confirmation of those we will see in 2023, plus the return of China. Having solved the (major) problems with Covid and found a useful organizational plan to allow the F1 weekend to run smoothly, the Shanghai circuit, owned by Honda, will once again host a race in the top four-wheeled Motorsport series.
Abu Dhabi remains the last race of the season on November 24, with Las Vegas and Qatar setting the stage for the championship finale. The Losail race, initially placed between Singapore and Austin, thus moves into the year-end hat trick.
The changes in some historic dates are important for F1 fans. The Japanese GP has been moved to the beginning of the season, thus trying to find more congenial weather conditions, but above all, for an environmental issue.
F1 is trying to consolidate the races based on the place where they are held to limit the travel and movement of the teams. Suzuka and China then come together to the Melbourne Grand Prix.
Baku was instead moved at the conclusion of the European campaign, immediately after Monza, which comes on 1 September. Imola instead remains at the beginning of the season (May 19).
After Azerbaijan, F1 will begin its last part of the season, moving to America (Austin, Mexico, Brazil, Las Vegas). The only two ‘American’ appointments that remain detached from the calendar are Miami (May 5) and Canada (June 9).
The calendar will see the presence of 5 Doubles (Bahrain-Jeddah; Imola-Monaco; Hungary-Belgium; Holland-Monza; Baku-Singapore) and 3 Triplets (Spain-Austria-England, Austin-Mexico-Brasilem, Las Vegas-Qatar- Abu Dhabi).
For a season that is still in full swing, F1 is looking and preparing for the future. The 2024 schedule is now finalised.
Author: Piergiuseppe Donadoni & Paolo D’Alessandro
Translation: Jaden Diaz-Ndisang
