Formula One says the Chinese Grand Prix remains on next season’s calendar for now after the coronavirus pandemic put paid to the last three editions of the night race on the streets of Shanghai.
“We continue to monitor the Covid situation in China and maintain a close dialogue with the promoter and authorities,” a spokesperson for F1 told AFP on Wednesday.
“China has been included in the 2023 calendar and until we announce otherwise that remains the case,” the spokesperson added.
A report on the BBC on Tuesday suggested the race, scheduled for April 16, was for the axe again due to China’s strict Covid measures.
“China’s zero-Covid policy has led F1 to conclude the race cannot go ahead. The key sticking point is that F1 staff would not be given exemptions from quarantine requirements in the event of suffering a Covid-19 infection,” the BBC claimed.
If as F1 contends it does return then the Chinese Grand Prix, last staged in 2019, will be the fourth leg of a record 24-race season in 2023.
