Formula 1 has announced the calendar for the 2021 season with 22 Grands Prix without the one expected to be held in Vietnam.

Photo: Ngoc Tu (Kinh te & Do thi)

Vietnam was due to host its first F1 race in April this year but the highly expected event was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and seems to be definitely canceled despite being initially included on the draft calendar circulated to teams last month, according to Auto Sport.

The absence of Vietnam will leave a gap in the provisional calendar between the Chinese Grand Prix on April 11 and the Spanish Grand Prix on May 9, and drops the calendar to 22 races, the sport news wrote. However, F1 may remain hopeful of bolstering the schedule back up to 23 events, aided by an increase in demand through the revised 2020 season.

Earlier, in mid-October, the F1 Vietnamese Grand Prix 2020 was canceled after being postponed in March due to Covid-19. In August, the F1 Race Organizing Board announced four additional races for the 2020 F1 calendar which would be held in Turkey, Bahrain (hosting two races) and Abu Dhabi, and Vietnam was off the list.

The announcement follows an unprecedented year for Formula 1 in which the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a revised 2020 calendar of 17 races, as F1 became the first international sport to resume its season.

“The plans for 2021 have involved extensive dialogue with all promoters and their local and national authorities at a time of ongoing fluidity related to the global pandemic,” an F1 announcement wrote. Formula 1 and the FIA put in place robust health and safety measures to allow the revised 2020 season to restart and run effectively.

“Our hosts for 2021 are reassured by our safe return to racing this season and confident that the plans and procedures we have in place will allow us to return to a level of normality for the 2021 season,” F1 statement wrote.

F1 is expected to return for the 2021 season and for the calendar to look similar to the originally planned 2020 season. It will continue to work closely with its promoters and partners and look forward to the start of the season on March 18, 2021 in Australia.

The season will start in Australia in mid-March, finish in Abu Dhabi in early December, and feature the first-ever World Championship race in Saudi Arabia.