Formula 1 has a back-up plan if the Portuguese Grand Prix is not held as the third race of the season at the beginning of May and in that case Bahrain would again host two races as last season.
Due to the postponement of the Australian GP to November, the first race of the season will run on March 28 in Bahrain, as well as in 2006 and 2010, and after Imola, which is scheduled for 18 April, Formula 1 has an unconfirmed race for 2 May.
Portugal is the first favorite to fill that spot after very successful last year’s race at Portimao, the first Portuguese GP since 1996 at Estoril, but Formula 1 also has a back-up plan.
Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said the situation is still unresolved, but that all the details will be known in the next few days.
“The reason why we haven’t enrolled Portugal yet is because the situation is still unresolved,” Domenicali said for selected media, including Autosport.
“As soon as we can, we’ll announce that in the next few days, not in the next two months.”
“I have several meetings over the weekend to understand the current situation, and one possible plan B is a double race in Bahrain. But it is one of the plans and nothing has been confirmed. We are trying to leave the calendar as it is at the moment.”
Formula 1 plans to have a record number of races in the calendar this year (23), which is two races higher than the previous record (21) from 2016, 2018 and 2019, and Domenicali is still convinced that he will succeed in achieving that number despite uncertainties due to a coronavirus pandemic.
“Everyone expected it to be easier this year, but it isn’t,” he said.
“We are absolutely sure that we can achieve the number of races that are on the calendar. It will be challenging, but we are sure that with the connections we have we can achieve that goal. But we need to be flexible and ready for other possibilities.”
“We already have other plans, and things that are safe today may be different tomorrow. That’s why we’re in daily contact with all the organizers.”
2021 F1 CALENDAR
1 | Bahrain | 28 Mar |
2 | Imola | 18 Apr |
3 | Portugal | 02 May |
4 | Spain | 9 May |
5 | Monaco | 23 May |
6 | Azerbaijan | 6 Jun |
7 | Canada | 13 Jun |
8 | France | 27 Jun |
9 | Austria | 4 Jul |
10 | Great Britain | 18 Jul |
11 | Hungary | 1 Aug |
12 | Belgium | 29 Aug |
13 | Netherlands | 5 Sep |
14 | Italy | 12 Sep |
15 | Russia | 26 Sep |
16 | Singapore | 3 Oct |
17 | Japan | 10 Oct |
18 | USA | 24 Oct |
19 | Mexico | 31 Oct |
20 | Brazil | 07 Nov |
21 | Australia | 21 Nov |
22 | Saudi Arabia | 05 Dec |
23 | Abu Dhabi | 12 Dec |