The Chinese Grand Prix was expected to return on the Formula 1 calendar for the 2023 season, but the Shanghai race risks being absent for the fourth consecutive year, once again due to the same reason: Coronavirus. If the rest of the world has entered the endemic stage of the COVID-19 outbreak (the virus is widespread, but is significantly less fatal thanks to vaccines), to the point that the restrictive measures have considerably eased, in China the restrictions continue
On the occasion of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party, leader Xi Jinping confirmed the intention to goin ahead with the “zero Covid” plan.
If Asian and Middle Eastern countries have reopened to the world again (and Formula 1 knows this, having already visited Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Japan and Singapore in the Covid era), China still insists – according to the International – to use national vaccines instead of those used in the West, which have considerably mitigated the deadly consequences of the pandemic.
Full-time professional Formula 1 journalist Joe Saward reports that the situation linked to Covid in China will not allow the Formula 1 Grand Prix to be held next season:
“The Chinese Communist Party Congress in Beijing, which has been taking place in the last few days, saw a very clear statement that the Chinese government is going to continue with its zero-COVID policy. This means that it is almost inconceivable for there to be a race in Shanghai in 2023 because of restrictions on spectators and, more importantly, the quarantine requirements that the F1 circus would face, which are currently impossible to fulfil. If the government makes an exception for F1 it will stir up discontent in the population, which the leaders want to avoid. In short, until the government eases off on restrictions it is unlikely that a race will happen. If it drops from the calendar in 2023, China will not be replaced.” – British Formula One journalist Joe Saward wrote on his blog.
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