F1: TURKEY REPLACES CANADA

Formula 1 wasted no time in slotting in a race in Turkey to replace the cancelled Canadian Grand Prix.

The Turkish Grand Prix will take over Montreal’s June 11 – 13 dates.

This will work out well logistically because the Azerbaijan Grand Prix is scheduled one week earlier. The flight time between Baku and Istanbul is under four hours, so it will be much easier to move the freight and F1 personnel between the two venues compared to the original schedule of back-to-back races in Baku and Montreal.

But the ongoing international travel restrictions in place in Canada made it impossible for Formula 1 to enter the country without a mandatory 14 day quarantine. And government officials in Canada declined to give F1 personnel an exemption.

Canada is the first venue in the record 23-race 2021 season to be cancelled. The races in Brazil and Mexico are very likely to be cancelled as well because of the pandemic raging in those countries. And question marks hang over the events in Japan and Singapore.

But the races in Australia, Saudi Arabia, the U.S. and Abu Dhabi are expected to go ahead.

The German race tracks of Hockenheim and the Nürburgring are ready to replace any other cancelled races.

“While it is disappointing we cannot be in Canada this season,” Stefano Domenicali, president and CEO of Formula 1 said, “we are excited to confirm that Turkey will host a grand prix in 2021 after an amazing race last season.”

“I know all our fans are excited by the dramatic start to the season, and Turkey is a great circuit that delivers great battles on the track.”

“I want to thank the promoter and authorities in Canada for all of their efforts in recent weeks but the travel situation made our plans impossible.”

“I equally want to thank the promoter and authorities in Turkey for their ongoing willingness to host a Formula 1 race that shows the huge interest in our sport and the promoters since the start of the year and continue to work closely with them during this period.”

“The Formula 1 community will continue to travel this season with stringent safety measures that allowed us to travel safely to 12 countries and deliver 17 races in 2020,” F1 said in a statement.

“The measures have proven to be highly effective with over 78,000 COVID-19 tests conducted last season with only 78 positive results, a rate of 0.1 per cent.”

“So far this season we have conducted over 12,000 tests with 14 positive cases, again a rate of 0.1 per cent, this is alongside the vaccines that a number of teams have already received and the good rollout of the vaccine in the UK where seven of the ten teams are based.”

“We will continue to operate in a way that protects the safety of our personnel and the communities we visit.”

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