This year, there won’t be a replacement for the cancelled Chinese Grand Prix.

The 2023 race was postponed, it was revealed in December, due to “ongoing challenges” with Covid in China.

The Chinese organizers’ appeal for the race to be reinstated has been denied by F1, and another event will not take the place of the 23 April race.

According to a release, “Formula 1 can confirm the 2023 season will include 23 races.”

“All currently scheduled race dates remain intact.”

The Shanghai race was slated to make its first appearance since 2019 in April.

The rationale behind not selecting a different race to fill China’s position is logistical.

The stringent zero-Covid regulations that were in place last year led F1 to decide to cancel the Chinese Grand Prix.

The government lifted its limitations as a result of widespread public protests, although there has since been an increase in cases.

Due to the limitations that have been placed on travelers entering from China as a result, numerous nations, including the UK, France, Germany, and Italy, F1 decided that the situation was too unstable to risk staging a race there.

Due to the decision, there has not been a Chinese Grand Prix since 2019, which raises concerns about the event’s future.

Due to China’s withdrawal, there will be a four-week break between the Australian Grand Prix on April 2 and the event in Azerbaijan on April 30.

With only six weeks to the start of the season, F1 considered switching China for another event, which most likely would have been in Europe, but ultimately concluded that adding a second journey leg, which would have been considerably different from Australia to China, was too much of an additional burden.

F1 would have had a record 24-race season in 2023 if China had replaced or taken the place of that country. 23 Grands Prix are currently the most ever held in a calendar year.

On March 3–5, 2023, Bahrain will host the opening round of the F1 season. The Sakhir track in Bahrain will host pre-season testing from February 23 to 25.