2021 F1 calendar reshuffled, as Turkey drops off and extra Austria race added

Formula 1 has provided an update on the 2021 race calendar, with new Covid-19 travel restrictions meaning it’s no longer possible to race in Turkey on June 11-13.

That weekend will now remain free, with the French Grand Prix moving a week earlier than originally planned to June 18-20 and a second race in Austria – the Styrian Grand Prix – added to the calendar on June 25-27.

That creates a new France-Styria-Austria triple header, with the Austrian Grand Prix staying in its original July 2-4 slot. All tickets to the French Grand Prix are valid for the earlier date.

The changes mean there continues to be 23 races planned for the 2021 season.

“We were all looking forward to racing in Turkey but the travel restrictions in place have meant we are not able to be there in June,” said Stefano Domenicali, President and CEO of Formula 1, in a statement.

“Formula 1 has shown again that it is able to react quickly to developments and find solutions and we are delighted that we will have a double header in Austria meaning our season remains at 23 races.

“I want to thank the promoter and authorities in Turkey for all of their efforts in recent weeks and want to thank the promoters in France and Austria for their speed, flexibility and enthusiasm in accommodating this solution. We have had very good conversations will all the other promoters since the start of the year and continue to work closely with them during this period.”

The statement added that the promoter in Turkey has requested that Formula 1 look at the potential opportunity for the race in Istanbul to be rescheduled later in the season if possible, alongside China who made the same request earlier this year.

Formula 1 also expressed its gratitude to the Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur region and French Grand Prix promoter for their flexibility, and the Austrian promoter for their enthusiasm to host a second race at short notice following the huge success of the two races in Austria in 2020.

The Formula 1 community will continue to travel this season with stringent safety measures in place. So far this season there have been 17,000 tests conducted with 15 positive cases - a rate of 0.1%.