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Formula 1 Cancels Turkish Grand Prix, Still Determined to Get In 23 Races

Photo credit: Pool - Getty Images
Photo credit: Pool - Getty Images

It's on to Plan C for Formula 1.

Series officials on Friday announced that following discussions with the race promoter in Istanbul and with "relevant stakeholders," the F1 Turkish Grand Prix would have to be canceled for 2021. The race, which was used as a replacement race in 2020, was announced on April 28 as a replacement race for this year's Canadian Grand Prix.

The Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal was originally slated for June 13.

The promoters in Turkey asked for a race date later in the season. China, the other race postponed so far in 2021, also asked for a date later in the season.

Instead, the loss of Turkey means an additional race for Austria. There will now be back-to-back races in Austria—the Styrian Grand Prix on the weekend of June 25-27 and the Austrian Grand Prix the weekend of July 2-4.

The falling dominoes also affects the French Grand Prix, which will move from its original date of June 25-27 to the June 18-20 race weekend.

"We are grateful to the Turkish promoter for their support in recent days and the recognition that the current travel situation made the race in June impossible," F1 said in a press release. "We are equally grateful to the Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur region and French Grand Prix promoter for their flexibility, and the Austrian promoter for their enthusiasm."