Formula 1 2023: Longest championship ever and Las Vegas debut

Budapest, Hungary: Exhibition of F1 racing team Scuderia Ferrari in Budapest. – iStock Editorial

The Formula 1 World Championship kicks off this Friday with the Bahrain Grand Prix, the first race of the longest calendar in history with 24 races, without China and with the novelty of Las Vegas, in addition to the excitement of up to six sprint races.

As usual due to the COVID pandemic, but against the traditional composition of the Formula 1 calendar, Bahrain will repeat as the venue for the start of the World Championship, while it will close on November 26 in Abu Dhabi. The desert circuit debuted in the competition in 2004, since then it has hosted 18 Grands Prix, with the 2011 hiatus as the only absence.

Fans of this competition will again not have to get up early in March to enjoy the premiere of the World Championship, as Albert Park, which has hosted Formula 1 races since 1985, will host its Grand Prix on the weekend of April 2, the third round of the longest calendar in the history of Formula 1.

Surpassing the 23 races held in 2023, this new season will travel up to 24 times around the world, after the addition of Las Vegas to the calendar. This race on North American soil increases the weight of the United States in the World Championship, as it will have three Grands Prix -Miami, Austin and Las Vegas- in the new season.

Although it was rumored to return after the health epidemic, China will not have a Grand Prix in 2023, initially scheduled for April 16, again by COVID-19. Thus, there will be a three-week ‘break’ between the Melbourne and Baku races, third and fourth, respectively. The one that will have a gap is the race in Qatar, after the momentary break due to the World Cup in 2022.

The first ‘triplet’ in terms of consecutive Grands Prix will come with those of Emilia Romagna (May 21), Monaco (28) and Spain (June 4). After that, it will be the turn of Canada, on June 18, and then four rounds, all in Europe, in July, with the Austrian, British, Hungarian and Belgian GPs, before the summer break.

Zandvoort will be the first round after the vacations, on August 27, just one week before the race in Monza. After that, the Asian tour will start with the Singapore, Japan and Qatar Grands Prix. Then, in the final stretch of the World Championship, Formula 1 travels to America, with the races in Austin and Mexico in October and in Brazil in November, the month in which Las Vegas will make its debut.

The climax, who knows if with everything at stake, will take place at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, on November 26, to close the longest calendar in the history of Formula 1, with 24 races in eight months. It will also feature six sprint races, twice as many as in 2022, in Azerbaijan, Austria, Belgium, Qatar, Austin and Brazil.

2023 F1 World Cup CALENDAR.

Bahrain: March 5

Saudi Arabia: March 19

Australia: April 2

Azerbaijan: April 30

Miami: May 7

Emilia Romagna: May 21

Monaco: May 28

Spain: June 4

Canada: June 18

Austria: July 2

Great Britain: July 9