Portugal set to be confirmed as the third race of the 2021 F1 season

Portugal will be officially confirmed tomorrow as the destination of the third race of the new F1 season 2021 after uncertainty about the situation with the coronavirus in that country, reports Autosport.

After Vietnam was dropped out of this year’s Formula 1 calendar, it had a vacancy in the third race of the season, which is scheduled for May 2, and Portugal was the main favorite for that place due to last year’s successful race at Portimao.

But after negotiations between the Formula 1 leadership and the race organizers of the last few days, it seems that both sides are satisfied and that the race will become part of this year’s calendar.

The teams will be officially informed about this decision at tomorrow’s meeting of the F1 Commission, where they will vote on trying out the new format of sprint races on Saturday, but also on freezing the development of the engine from 2022.

Portugal is currently on the red list in the UK which means that anyone returning from Portugal has to isolate themselves in a hotel for 10 days, which will probably mean that F1 team members living in the UK will not be able to return home before the fourth race of the season in Spain.

The new 2021 F1 season begins with a race in Bahrain on March 26-28 and two weeks later F1 will go to Imola, which returned last year for the first time since 2006.

Pre-season testing will last for three days (March 12-14) in Bahrain and the first presentation of the new car will be held by McLaren on February 15.

2021 F1 CALENDAR