Turkey replaces Canada on Formula One calendar

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Turkey will replace Canada on this year’s Formula One calendar after the June 13 race in Montreal was cancelled yesterday for the second year in a row due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Formula One said it had extended Montreal’s contract by two years to take into account the cancellations, securing the race until 2031. The race had been scheduled for the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on the weekend after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and Turkey’s Istanbul circuit will be logistically convenient for air freight coming from Baku.

The Turkish race returned last year for the first time since 2011 and also at short notice to bolster a calendar ravaged by the pandemic. Vural Ak, chairman of Istanbul circuit operator Intercity, said spectators would be welcome and hoped the race would lead to a long-term deal. “We have one of the most exciting circuits in the world, we really want our people and our foreign guests to be part of this excitement as well,” he said.

“Thanks to the pandemic measures and efforts our state has carried out, we plan to put tickets on sale as soon as possible.” There were no races in the Americas or the Far East last year, with the reduced, 17-round season conducted entirely in Europe and the Middle East and some circuits holding more than one grand prix.

Formula One has operated in a bubble since the pandemic, with teams and staff regularly tested and many vaccinated while most races have been held behind closed doors, and is aiming for 23 grand prix this year.

More than 78,000 COVID-19 tests conducted last season produced only 78 positive results and there have been 14 from more than 12,000 so far this year.

The sport had hoped to visit Canada without a mandatory 14-day quarantine but a third wave of the virus thwarted those plans.