The Chinese Grand Prix definitely, definitely won’t be replaced

The cancelled Chinese Grand Prix won’t be replaced in the 2023 F1 calendar, leaving a four week gap between the fourth race of the season in Australia and the next event in Baku.

That means the schedule will be one grand prix short of the 24 that were originally planned; a number that would’ve raised the bar on last season’s record of 23 had China not fallen through.

You can bet that team personnel - and probably a few drivers as well - will be rejoicing at the news, as it’ll give them a break from travel that’s as long as the mid-season summer hiatus between the Belgian and Dutch grands prix over July and August.

Reports suggest that logistical difficulties meant that filling the hole left behind by China on 16 April was virtually impossible, especially at such short notice.

The Chinese Grand Prix last featured on the F1 calendar in 2019, and hasn’t reappeared since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Recently there were rumours that it could be revived in 2023, with the government lifting travel restrictions in response to mass protests in the country. Alas, it wasn’t to be.

The season kicks off in Bahrain on 5 March and will wrap up in Abu Dhabi on 26 November, a week after Las Vegas makes its no doubt brightly lit return (and we use that word loosely given the Caesars Palace Grand Prix of ‘81 and ‘82 was held in a car park) to the F1 scene.