Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domencali has said that the latest calendar reshuffle has demonstrated that F1 can react quickly.
The Turkish Grand Prix, which was set to replace the cancelled Canadian Grand Prix, was itself called off amid the latest UK Government restrictions on travel bans to the country.
Turkey has been placed on the red list which means that anybody travelling from the UK would need to quarantine for two weeks. This caused an impossible situation for the sport as the majority of the teams are based in the UK. When the teams would have returned from Turkey they wouldn’t have been able to depart for France which would have taken place two weeks after the Turkish Grand Prix.
“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 Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali as quoted by RacingNews365.com.
“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.”
In place of Turkey, France will be moved ahead a week to 18th – 20th June whilst Austria will fill the void at 25th -27th June. The original Austrian Grand Prix will take place a week later creating a double-header in Austria, similar to last seasons.
“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,” continued Domenicali.
“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.”
