In the wake of the cancellation of the Australian GP, F1 officials are working overtime to replace the race so that it can maintain its plan of 23 races in the season. The Australian GP was originally scheduled for the weekend of November 21, but after its cancellation, its slot remained open, which now could be filled in by Qatar which is all set to host its maiden F1 race.
The race could happen at the Losail International Circuit that holds an FIA Grade 1 license to stage an F1 event but mostly has been the mainstay of the MotoGP calendar since 2004. It hosted the opening two rounds of the MotoGP calendar in 2021 and has also hosted the World Superbike and World Touring Car Championship rounds. The circuit also is fully floodlit which would allow for a night race as seen during the MotoGP events.
The Qatar circuit has been part of the MotoGP calendar since 2004
Qatar's addition to the calendar would create a series of races in the middle east towards the end of the year with Saudi Arabia getting its first race on December 5 and Abu Dhabi being the season-closing event on December 12.
Only last week, the Japanese GP was cancelled while there are still few question marks over the races in Brazil and Mexico. Brazil and Mexico are still on the UK red list and anyone returning to the UK which will be the case for most teams will need 10-day government hotel quarantine regardless of the vaccination status.
Even the Turkish GP is in the doldrums because of the stringent quarantine rules in the UK. The UK is the home base for 7 of the 10 F1 teams apart from Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and AlphaTauri which are based in Italy. The Turkish GP was cancelled in June but it returned on the calendar and has been scheduled for October 3 but if the teams aren't able to get the UK government to relax its regulations it could also be cancelled. A final decision on the race is yet to be taken and could be expected in a couple of weeks.
