The Chinese Grand Prix has been cancelled (again)

As expected, F1 has confirmed that the Chinese Grand Prix will not take place in 2023 'due to the ongoing difficulties' posed by Covid-19 in the country.

While the rest of the world has largely moved away from lockdowns and international travel restrictions, China… hasn’t. Hence the large-scale protests in the news in recent weeks.

F1 bosses have therefore concluded that the Chinese Grand Prix poses too much of a risk, and so it’ll be absent from the schedule for a fourth season in a row.

It had been due to take place on 16 April, a fortnight after the Australian Grand Prix and two weeks before the sport’s visit to Baku. But its absence means there’s now a month-long gap in the calendar just three races into the 2023 season, and F1 is ‘assessing alternative options to replace the slot’ with another race.

Where do you want Verstappen, Hamilton, Leclerc and co to go, folks? Turkey? Portugal? The (figure-of-eight-shaped) TG test track? Ideas below please.