The Turkish GP canceled and replaced by a 2nd race in Austria

Added to the 2021 season calendar on April 28 to replace the Canadian Grand Prix, the Turkish round, initially scheduled for June 11 to 13, will ultimately not take place. 

This is due to the deterioration of the health situation in the country, which pushed the British government to add Turkey to the red list of nations at risk. Consequence: all travelers arriving from the Bosphorus or having transited through the region in the last 10 days are subject to a strict 10-day quarantine. 

This isolation must be carried out in hotels specifically selected by the authorities and is charged nearly 2 euros per person. Too great a constraint for the British contingent in the paddock F1, which represents the majority of the troops, with 7 of the 10 teams in the field based in the United Kingdom. 

For several days, F1 tried to find a solution, in particular by trying to reverse the dates with the Baku meeting, scheduled for June 4 to 6. F1 personnel could thus have spent a good part of the obligatory 10 days away from Turkey in Azerbaijan. 

But it is rumored that the organizers in Baku said “niet” because the Azerbaijani capital is due to host Euro 2020 football matches from June 12. 

To compensate for this new cancellation, F1 will organize a 2nd race in Austria, as it had already done successfully to open the 2020 campaign. The Styrian Grand Prix will therefore benefit from a 2nd edition, scheduled for June 25 to 27.

If the dates are familiar to you, it is because they correspond to those initially selected for the 2021 French Grand Prix. The organizers of the Castellet event (Var) were thus forced to bring forward their meeting. 'one week. The Circuit Paul Ricard will therefore host F1 from June 18 to 20, the first stage of a France-Austria-Austria triplet which does not only make people happy.

BREAKING: Due to travel restrictions, it is unfortunately not possible to race in Turkey in June

As a result, France moves a week earlier (18-20 June) and Austria will host a double header (25-27 June and 2-4 July)#F1 pic.twitter.com/T6u2uqfYDM

- Formula 1 (@ F1) May 14, 2021

« We were looking forward to racing in Turkey but the travel restrictions in place did not allow it in June, explains Stefano Domenicali. Formula 1 has shown once again that it is able to react quickly to developments and find solutions and we are delighted to have a double-header in Austria which means our season remains at 23 races

I would like to thank the promoter (from the Turkish Grand Prix) and the local authorities for all their efforts in recent weeks as well as the French and Austrian developers for their speed, flexibility and enthusiasm in finding solutions ».

The Turkish promoter has also made a request to F1 to examine the possibility of organizing the Turkish Grand Prix later this season.