Alkass Digital
Formula One will have a record 24 races next season with Qatar to host the Grand Prix on October 8 in 2023, the FIA announced yesterday. Kicking off in Bahrain on March 5 and concluding in Abu Dhabi on November 26, the F1 season will also feature a race in Las Vegas as the penultimate round for a Saturday night race.
The Lusail International circuit held Qatar’s first F1 race in November last year and will return as a fourth Middle Eastern round after being absent this year due to the country hosting the football World Cup.
Qatar has signed a 10-year deal to host Formula One from 2023, with the possibility of the Grand Prix being held at a new track. The Lusail Circuit is currently undergoing extensive renovation and remodelling of the paddock area and facilities as well as the creation of new areas for spectators.
Qatar has been a mainstay of the MotoGP calendar since 2004 and from 2007 became the traditional season-opening event, with the following year marking the first-ever night time Grand Prix in motorcycle racing history. However, due to facility upgrades taking place Qatar will now host its MotoGP race later in the season in 2023.
Meanwhile, FIA yesterday confirmed the Las Vegas Strip circuit will host the F1 race on Nov 18 date as the season’s penultimate round and third in the United States. It will also be the first race to be held on a Saturday since 1985. Monaco, historically the most glamorous race, had its future thrown into doubt earlier in the year amid contract renewal talks. Formula One said a new three-year deal had now been signed with the Automobile Club de Monaco, whose president Michel Boeri added that it was likely to be renewed.
The principality retains its traditional May 28 slot as the eighth race and middle part of a triple-header with Italy’s Imola and Spain’s Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona. This season was to have had a record 23 races but that was reduced to 22 after Russia’s race in Sochi was cancelled following the invasion of Ukraine.
The calendar also avoids a clash with the 24 Hours of Le Mans sportscar race which will be celebrating its 100th anniversary next year on June 10-11. The British Grand Prix at Silverstone on July 9 will be on the weekend before the Wimbledon men’s and women’s tennis finals on July 15-16.
The traditional August break is maintained, with Belgium becoming the last race before it at the end of July – and following on from Hungary – rather than the first after. Belgium’s longer-term future remains uncertain, with organisers signing only a one-year extension last month.
“The presence of 24 races on the 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship calendar is further evidence of the growth and appeal of the sport on a global scale,” said FIA president Mohamed Ben Sulayem. “The addition of new venues and the retention of traditional events underlines the FIA’s sound stewardship of the sport,” added the Emirati.
China, which last hosted a race in 2019, returns despite lingering uncertainty over Covid-19 restrictions while France, whose race was at Le Castellet’s Circuit Paul Ricard near Marseille, has been dropped as previously announced. Formula One has also been negotiating with South Africa’s Kyalami circuit but that deal has yet to be done. Azerbaijan and Miami remain as back-to-back races on April 30 and May 7 respectively.
There was no confirmation of which races would be held in the sprint format, with the sport seeking as many as six after three this year. “Formula One has unprecedented demand to host races and it is important we get the balance right for the entire sport,” said Formula One chief executive Stefano Domenicali.