Daily Times

PARIS: Formula One provisionally added a first race in Las Vegas to the 2023 schedule announced on Tuesday, taking the total to a record 24, The season will start in Bahrain on March 5 and finish in Abu Dhabi, more than nine months later on November 26 Las Vegas will be the penultimate round as F1 quickly adds a third race in the United States after Miami joined the schedule this season. The Las Vegas race is subject to “homologation”, or official approval of the circuit by FIA, the motor sports governing body. The Chinese Grand Prix, last raced in 2019, returns as does the Qatar Grand Prix at Losail, which made its debut in 2021 but is not being raced this year. The French Grand Prix, first raced in 1906, making it the oldest Grand Prix, is dropped. It was previously dropped between 2009 and 2017 before returning at Le Castellet. The Sochi Grand Prix, scratched this year following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, does not return. Two races considered under threat — Belgium and Monaco — are retained. “Formula 1 has unprecedented demand to host races and it is important we get the balance right for the entire sport,” said Formula One president Stefano Domenicali. The global distribution of races continues to shift. There are nine in Europe, eight in Asia, four in North America and one each in South America and Australia “The presence of 24 races on the 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship calendar is further evidence of the growth and appeal of the sport on a global scale,” said Mohammed Ben Sulayem FIA president.