Even though the F1 2023 calendar will witness a record 23 races, there is still an unusual four-week gap between the Australian Grand Prix and the Azerbaijan GP. The Australian GP will take place from March 31 to April 2, while the Azerbaijan GP will take place from April 28 to 30.
While there is always a month-long break during the summer, for there to be a break of more than three weeks between two races in the rest of the season is not usual. Here is a look at why there is no F1 race till the end of this month.
Why is there a long break between the Australian and Azerbaijan GP?
Due to the cancellation of the 2023 Chinese Grand Prix, F1 will witness two long breaks this year. The first long break will be in April and another in August. As for the Chinese GP, it was supposed to take place from April 14-16.
The Chinese GP has not been on the calendar since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And this is another year when COVID resulted in the cancellation of the Chinese GP.
The Chinese Grand Prix weekend was canceled this year due to the country’s zero COVID policy. Before 2019, the Chinese GP had taken place every year from 2004 onwards.
Updated F1 2023 calendar after Chinese Grand Prix cancellation
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- Bahrain: March 3-5
- Saudi Arabia: March 17-19
- Australia: March 31-April 2
- Azerbaijan: April 28-30
- Miami: May 5-7
- Emila Romagna, Italy: May 19-21
- Monaco: May 26-28
- Spain: June 2-4
- Canada: June 16-18
- Austria: June 30-July 2
- Britain: July 7-9
- Hungary: July 21-23
- Belgium: July 28-30
- Netherlands: August 25-27
- Italy: September 1-3
- Singapore: September 15-17
- Japan: September 22-24
- Qatar: October 6-8
- Austin, Texas: October 20-22
- Mexico: October 27-29
- Brazil: November 3-5
- Las Vegas: November 17-19
- Abu Dhabi: November 24-26
How has the F1 2023 season been so far?
The F1 2023 season has gotten off to a brilliant start as three exciting races have taken place so far, with a Red Bull driver winning all of them. Reigning Drivers’ Champion Max Verstappen won in Bahrain and last weekend in Australia, while Sergio Perez won in Saudi Arabia.
Other than the dominance of Red Bull, another major story this year has been the staggering rise of Aston Martin. From finishing seventh in the Constructors’ Championship last season, Aston Martin currently finds themselves second, just behind reigning champions Red Bull.
On the losing side, the major stories have been about Ferrari and McLaren. Ferrari not only seems to have fallen further behind Red Bull in terms of pace, but they also do not seem to have made any improvement when it comes to their reliability concerns.
As for McLaren, they have been way off the pace as compared to their main rivals. All teams will now hope to use this time effectively to put up a strong performance in the next race in Azerbaijan.
