Yahoo Autos No Surprises as 2023 F1 Schedule Will Feature a Record 24 Races
Miami retain its May slot on the 2023 Formula 1 schedule and Austin, Texas held on to its traditional October spot.
The new-for-2023 street race in Las Vegas will debut on November 18—as a Saturday night race—as the penultimate round of the season.
The French Grand Prix is not on the 2023 schedule.
Formula 1’s dizzying 24-race calendar revealed Formula 1’s 2023 calendar, featuring a record-breaking 24 Grands Prix—including three in the United States—was released on Tuesday.
The championship’s trio of rounds in the U.S. have been kept separate, with Miami retaining its May slot, and Austin keeping its traditional fall berth. The new-for-2023 street race in Las Vegas will debut on November 18—as a Saturday night race—as the penultimate round of the season.
The French Grand Prix, as expected, did not make the 2023 schedule.
As per 2022, the '23 season will open and close in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi respectively. However, the 2023 campaign will be extended, with an earlier start date of March 5, and a finale of November 26 a week later than this year’s curtain-closer.
Saudi Arabia again features as round two, though is no longer part of a back-to-back with opener Bahrain. This is because preseason testing is due to take place in Bahrain in late February, with Formula 1 keen to avoid personnel staying out in the Middle East for a prolonged period.
Australia will feature on April 2, once more as a standalone, with efforts to pair it with another Grand Prix having fallen by the wayside amid a lack of viable candidates. China’s return has been penciled in for April 16, as a standalone event, though its comeback after a three-year absence remains provisional.
That is because China still has strict quarantine measures that remain immutable for Formula 1, and if they aren’t relaxed, the event will not go ahead. Putting the event early in the year places extra pressure on officials in China to make a call as to whether Formula 1 can visit in seven months’ time.
Azerbaijan’s Grand Prix will move from June to late April, forming the first of a back-to-back event with Miami, in order to leave the weekend of June 10-11 vacant. That is in order to avoid any Grand Prix clashing with the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which in 2023 will celebrate its 100th race, though it creates a strenuous back-to-back that is unlikely to be popular among traveling personnel.
Emilia Romagna’s Imola will move a month later, to May, commencing a tripleheader that includes Monaco and Spain. Monaco’s new contract has not yet been publicly communicated but it will feature on the 2023 schedule.
Canada remains in its traditional mid-June slot; there had been an attempt to pair Montreal’s event with Miami but officials north of the border were steadfast in retaining its customary position on the schedule.
Belgium—which recently received a 2023 reprieve—will switch from post-summer to pre-summer, bumping Hungary a week earlier, with a busy July also featuring Austria and Britain.
Belgium’s shift now means the second half of the season will begin in the Netherlands, ahead of Italy’s national Grand Prix at Monza.
Singapore and Japan remain a double-header, but are pushed earlier into September, starting a sequence of flyaway events that criss-cross the globe. That frees up an October slot for Qatar, which returns on a 10-year deal, having previously featured as a replacement event in 2021. Qatar’s round will take place at Losail Circuit.
Austin and Mexico’s usual back-to-back race weekends will turn into a triple-header, with Brazil bolted onto the end, freeing up its prior date for Las Vegas’ debut.
Las Vegas’ Grand Prix will be a night race on Saturday, November 18—Formula 1’s first Saturday race since 1985—as the penultimate round of the season.The sport will then travel straight to Abu Dhabi for the finale on November 26.
2023 F1 Schedule
March 5 - Bahrain
March 19 - Saudi Arabia
April 2 - Australia
April 16 - China
April 30 - Azerbaijan
May 7 - Miami
May 21 - Emila Romagna, Italy
May 28 - Monaco
June 4 - Spain
June 18 - Canada
July 2 - Austria
July 9 - Britain
July 23 - Hungary
July 30 - Belgium
August 27 - Netherlands
September 3 - Italy
September 17 - Singapore
September 24 - Japan
October 8 - Qatar
October 22 - Austin, Texas
October 29 - Mexico
November 5 - Brazil
November 19 - Las Vegas
November 26 - Abu Dhabi
