In the early morning of October 16, Beijing time, F1 officially announced the calendar of the 2022 season. The new season of the f1 Grand Prix will consist of the largest number of 23 sub-stations in history, and the Chinese Grand Prix does not appear in this calendar.
F1 official website published the 2022 F1 calendar.
Since the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic in 2020, this is the third consecutive year that F1 China has been suspended. Previously, the F1 Chinese Grand Prix was first held in September 2004 and was held for 16 consecutive years until the 2019 season. F1 said on the official website: "Once the policy allows, China will return to the f1 calendar as soon as possible."
According to the racing network media motorsport.com report, even if the 2022 season f1 can not come to China, but the Chinese side is negotiating with f1 to renew the contract, and is expected to renew the contract until 2027. Shanghai Jiushi Sports Industry Development (Group) Co., Ltd. is responsible for the operation of the f1 Chinese Grand Prix and the venue services of the Shanghai International Circuit.
In addition, according to Lazy Bear Sports, liberty media also hopes to actively promote F1's "second stop in China" plan after it acquired F1 Holding Company in September 2016. In September 2020, the Chengdu Tianfu International Circuit, invested by Geely Group, held a groundbreaking ceremony. According to Red Star News, the Chengdu Tianfu International Circuit Project has a total investment of 3.5 billion yuan, and the project is composed of a class 2-2 road track certified by the FIA (which can be upgraded to a class 1 track) and automobile commercial.
The new f1 Grand Prix is scheduled to open in Bahrain on 20 March 2022 and close in Dubai on 20 November 2022. Despite the increase in the number of races, the overall length of the season was compressed to 35 weeks. According to media analysis, this is to avoid a clash with the Qatar World Cup, which starts on November 21 next year.
It is worth mentioning that the absence of the Chinese Grand Prix in the 2022 season may have a certain impact on the Commercial Level on The Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu, who is currently competing for the official quota of F1 drivers. The young driver, born in 1999, currently ranks second in total for this season's F2 drivers and has almost certainly determined the points needed to earn f1 drivers' "super licence" points.
Previously, the F1 teams have successively announced the list of drivers for the new season. Zhou Guanyu will compete with Australian driver Oscar Piastri, who is currently ranked No. 1 in f2, and Robert Shwartzman, a Russian driver with No. 3 in f2, for the second driver position at Alfa Romeo Racing, which is the last remaining regular driver for each F1 team in 2022.