The FIA World Motor Sport Council convened today for the fourth and final meeting of 2020 and approves 23 race calendar for 2021 Formula 1 season. The meeting was hosted in Geneva by FIA President Jean Todt with FIA Deputy President for Sport Graham Stoker and WMSC members joining in a large majority via video conference from locations across the globe.
The 2021 season set to kick-start with Australian GP on 21st March and season will conclude at Abu Dhabi on 5th December. There will be a Four weeks of summer break between August 1st and 29th before tough six race schedule in 7 weeks. Only two triple-headers included in 2021 calendar compared to three in 2020 season.
Belgian GP, Dutch GP and Italian GP will be part of first triple-header between 29th August and 12th September, immediately after summer break. Russian GP, Singapore GP and Japanese GP are part of second triple-header between 26th September and 10th October.
2021 Formula 1 calendar
| 21 March | Australian GP |
| 28 March | Bahrain GP |
| 11 April | Chinese GP |
| 25 April | TBC |
| 9 May | Spanish GP* |
| 23 May | Monaco GP |
| 6 June | Azerbaijan GP |
| 13 June | Canadian GP |
| 27 June | French GP |
| 4 July | Austrian GP |
| 18 July | British GP |
| 1 August | Hungarian GP |
| 29 August | Belgian GP |
| 5 September | Dutch GP |
| 12 September | Italian GP |
| 26 September | Russian GP |
| 3 October | Singapore GP |
| 10 October | Japanese GP |
| 24 October | United States GP |
| 31 October | Mexico City GP |
| 14 November | Sao Paulo GP |
| 28 November | Saudi Arabia GP** |
| 5 December | Abu Dhabi GP |
*Subject to promoter agreement
**Subject to Jeddah circuit homologation
The calendar was approved with the 25 April slot that was vacated by Vietnam still to be confirmed, but it is understood that one of the new tracks used this year would fill the gap.
Imola, Portimao and Mugello are understood to be possible options to mark the beginning of the European season, having all joined the calendar for 2020 in place of events cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Spanish Grand Prix remains subject to a new contract being agreed, but it is understood this is likely to be finalised in the coming weeks.
F1 is hopeful of completing its intended calendar next year despite the fluid nature of the ongoing pandemic, and has not discussed possible back-up events with teams.
Initiatives such as the biosphere used for the season finale in Abu Dhabi have given F1 stakeholders confidence they will be able to race anywhere safely, in tandem with the rigorous testing and tracing system that is in use.
The World Council congratulated the entire Formula 1 community for the remarkable achievement of completing 17 events in the wake of the global pandemic, and FIA President Jean Todt thanked Formula 1 Chairman and CEO Chase Carey for his significant contributions to the sport since 2017 as he will move to the position of Non-Executive Chairman at the end of this year and welcome Stefano Domenicali as the new CEO.
