Jordan's Track Talk

Tag: Calendar 2021

  • Qatar joins ‘21 Calendar

    We finally have confirmation on which track will be filling in for Australia this year and that is Qatar…

    Qatar is set to make an appearance on the weekend of the 19th of November, making it its first ever F1 Grand Prix!

    The Qatari circuit is most famous for its association with two wheel racing, with it having hosted the Moto GP since 2004.

    The race is the last of the triple header, with Mexico and Brazil before hand, it should be an exciting weekend considering no-one has raced there so it could go either way!

    It also got announced that Qatar will permanently be on our race calendar from 2023 for 10 years!

    A statement from F1 said: “There was a strong will from Qatar to be helpful to F1, and in the course of this process, the vision for a longer partnership was discussed and agreed for 10 years. The step from the gesture to be helpful to F1 in 2021 to a long term strategy was short and simple and the vision for F1 to be the showcase for Qatar after the FIFA World Cup in 2022 was the driving force behind this long term agreement.”

  • Japanese GP Cancelled

    Another change has hit the 2021 calendar, we now won’t be going to the Suzuka Circuit in Japan on the 8th to 10th October.

    The race which was cancelled last year due to Covid-19, was meant to be the third race out of a triple header this year.

    A statement from Formula 1 read: “Following ongoing discussions with the promoter and authorities in Japan the decision has been taken by the Japanese government to cancel the race this season due to ongoing complexities of the pandemic in the country.”

    What could replace it?

    Well, there is a long list of circuits which are happy to jump in and take their place. Some of them which come to mind are: Nurburgring, Mugello, Hockenheim and Indianapolis.

    My Opinion-

    It is such a shame that we won’t be at the Suzuka Circuit this year, but we can all understand the reasons why! Obviously a shame for the fans too with how passionate they are and they will have to wait another year to see some F1 cars back on track…

  • Australia Cancelled Again

    It has officially been announced that the Australian Grand Prix which was due to be held on the 19th to 21st of November.

    Normally the Australian Grand Prix is the season opener in March, however this year instead of cancelling it they postponed it till November, obviously it has not worked in their favour but it won’t be long till we are back!

    The circuit had some upgrades whilst not being in use such as Turns 9 & 10, the chicane has been removed to allow higher speeds. Turn 13, it now allows more overtaking opportunities. There is also some widening of corners at 1 & 2, 3 & 4, 6 & 7 and 15.

    It has not been revealed yet which circuit will take its place. Some of the possibilities that I can think of are: Hockenheim, Nurburgring, Mugello, Sakhir (outer track). Let me know in the poll below what you think!

  • Singapore out Turkey in

    It has been announced that Singapore’s Grand Prix on the 1st of October to 3rd is cancelled. Singapore missed out last year too due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but heres hoping we will be back next year!

    However to replace it, F1 has decided that Turkey will step into Singapore’s place!

    Turkey originally came on to the calendar this year to replace the Canadian Grand Prix, however it got cancelled due to international travel restrictions, however they requested to re-join the calendar later in the season if possible and they got their wish!

    Stefano Domenicali, President and CEO of Formula1, said: “We are delighted to be coming back to Turkey to Intercity Istanbul Park circuit. We hope to see another fantastic race again in one of the best tracks in the world. We want to thank the Intercity Istanbul Park management and Mr. Vural Ak for his personal efforts to make this event to happen. We have shown that we can continue to adapt and there is huge interest in our sport and the hope from many locations to have a Grand Prix.”

    My opinion-

    I’m actually very excited to go back to Turkey, obviously it’s a shame for Singapore but will be back next year! Turkey last year, brought us an exciting race, we saw Lewis Hamilton equal Michael Schumacher’s 7 world title, we saw Sebastian Vettel on the podium again. It was definitely one to remember and i’m hoping for the same again this year!

  • Mugello ready for a return

    The Mugello circuit which is based in Tuscany in Italy have said they are ready to negotiate if Formula 1 wants them back in 2021…

    The circuit is owned by Ferrari and is a regular testing venue for the Scuderia, however they changed it up last year and welcomed the F1 teams for the first time as it hosted the Tuscan Grand Prix in 2020 and due to the pandemic the original calendar got abandoned but it went on to being a 17 race schedule and the Tuscan Grand Prix was round 9.

    Although 2021 hasn’t been had to much disruption yet there has been some major changes to the original calendar…

    The Australian Grand Prix is currently pushed back to November, whilst the Canadian Grand Prix has been cancelled. The Turkish Grand Prix was set to take its place however that was then cancelled, the French Grand Prix then moved a week forward to make way for a double header at Austria’s Red Bull Ring.

    I honestly would love to see Mugello back on the Calendar this year! Last years race was an interesting one as the Mercedes finished with a 1-2 but on the opening lap Verstappen was involved in a race ending collision with Gasly, Raikkonen and Grosjean. Lance Stroll also suffered a heavy crash later on in the race too.

    I don’t know if everyone would be happy if Mugello came back as this would be the second year Italy has 3 races but I suppose we will just have to wait and see 👀

  • Turkey Cancelled…

    After lots of speculation that Turkey may be cancelled due to Covid-19 travel restrictions its now been announced today that we won’t be racing there on the 11th-13th of June. It only got announced a fortnight ago that Turkey was in the calendar again as it replaced the Canadian Grand Prix.

    However, the French Grand Prix has now moved a week earlier than planned to June 18th-20th and we now have a second race in Austria- the Styrian Grand Prix on the 25th-27th June.

    This now creates a France-Styria-Austria triple header, with the original Austrian Grand Prix staying in its original slot, meaning that there is now a two week break from the second Austrian Grand Prix to the British Grand Prix.

    I was really looking forward to seeing Turkey back on the calendar again this year as last years race was good, i’m hoping F1 might keep it as a back up just like China incase other races get cancelled later on in the year… I’m not to sure if having two Austrian races is the right call but its all about sticking to the Covid restrictions in each country, however saying this i’m glad we still have the 23 races.