LONDON - Formula One will publish a record 23-race 2022 calendar on Friday but the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai is set to be absent for the third year in a row.
Multiple sources told Reuters on Thursday that China was not on a draft schedule presented to teams on Wednesday but would feature as a possible reserve for later in the season in the event of another round dropping off.
Formula One sees China as a key growth market but the race, usually in April, was cancelled in 2020 and this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions.
Italy’s Imola circuit, brought back as a stand-in for cancelled races this year and last, is expected to take China’s slot while Miami comes in as a second round in the United States.
This year’s Chinese Grand Prix was originally postponed from April to later in the year due to the pandemic and then cancelled, with a revised 22-race calendar published.
China will be hosting the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing in February and has cancelled or rescheduled global sporting events since the start of the pandemic.