The 2022 vintage is coming to an end, and if the future of sport seemed to reflect a light of stability, you have to change your mind. The journalist Joe Saward, paddock veteran, believes that the Chinese grand prix is one step away from abdicating also in the next season, thus saying goodbye to the 2023 calendar. The event should be held on April 16 as the fourth stage of the world championship, but let's see the reasons for the possible exclusion...
Shanghai abandons the calendar? Let's see why
The Coronavirus has delivered master blows to the economy and well-being of every part of the globe. A country above all, however, still struggling to get out of the quicksand of the pandemic. The last race in China was in 2019, where he won Lewis Hamilton, from then on, the virus cut all ties between the top flight and the Asian country.
In the rest of the planet, the battle against Covid-19 is today largely under the control of nations; in China instead, the tough “zero Covid” policy implemented by the government is putting the businesses in the corner that are back at full capacity in the rest of the world. Another cause of this tiring recovery would be attributable to theobstinacy of the Asian country to use "zero km" vaccines, effectively renouncing the vaccine drugs shaped by the West.
Saward's words
The British journalist declares the near impossibility of seeing the Chinese grand prix on the calendar in the upcoming season: “A race in Shanghai in 2023 is almost inconceivable due to spectator restrictions and more importantly the quarantine requirements that the F1 Circus would face, which are currently impossible to meet. If the government were to make an exception for F1 it would arouse public discontent, which the leaders want to avoid. In short, until the government eases restrictions, the race is unlikely to happen. If in 2023 the race leaves the calendar, China will not be replaced".
China off the calendar… what would be the consequences?
There are many grands prix on the waiting list for the years to come, but as revealed by Joe Saward, suggests that in case of exclusion, we probably won't see a grand prix replacement. Similar situation to failure to replace the Russian grand prix, which should have been kept inSochi Autodrome, for 2022; although the causes are very different.
If it is the business of Formula 1 piloted by Liberty Media, to thank are the environment and insiders. With a F1 increasingly disposable in fact, a possible decrease from 24 to 23 grands prix would do anything but harm to those who shoulder the burden of carrying the barrack from one continent to another.
SOURCE: formulapassion; International
