F1 will have a record-breaking season in 2023, with three grand prix in the USA and 23 races overall, starting and ending in the Middle East but travelling 80,000 miles around the world in the nine months in between.
Four circuits remain from the first F1 season in 1950 – Silverstone, Monza, Spa and Monaco – and there’s plenty of fan-favourite tracks like Zandvoort, Austria, and Baku to look forward to as well.
The Circuit Paul Ricard departs from the calendar, but the unpopular Yas Marina Circuit remains as the season finale, and the scheduled Chinese Grand Prix was cancelled yet again – it’s not been held since 2019. Additionally, the Russian Grand Prix was scheduled to move to Igora Drive for 2023, but the race saw its contract ripped up following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
It’s lights out for the first race in Bahrain for the 2023 season, a circuit that delivered as the curtain-raiser in 2021 and 2022 and also hosts pre-season testing. F1 stays in the Middle East for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, again held at Jeddah ahead of their planned move to a purpose-built circuit in the mid-2020s.
Then teams will start to rack up the air miles, flying to Melbourne, then Baku, then Miami and finally to Europe for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola.
After Imola comes Monaco and Barcelona for the first race of summer, the race that used to be the start of the European season now marks a third of the season gone.
Teams fly to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix in what kicks off arguably the best four-race run of the season on paper – the Red Bull Ring, Silverstone and the Hungaroring. Teams finish off a defining stretch of the season at Spa, which is before the summer break this in 2023.
After a month off, Zandvoort kicks off the second half of the season, before a very different challenge a week later at Monza, the Cathedral of Speed.
Then F1 leaves Europe for Singapore before an earlier Japanese Grand Prix than usual at the end of September. Teams clock up more air miles travelling from Japan to Qatar, then the Circuit of Americas kicks off the Americas leg of the season – Austin, Mexico City, Interlagos and Las Vegas will all see action in just six weeks. Then it’s back to Yas Marina to conclude the season.
Are there any new races in 2023?
The Las Vegas GP will debut in 2023, running on Saturday 18 November. Charging down the Las Vegas Strip past famous casinos like Paris Las Vegas, Caesar’s Palace and the Bellagio, the night race will certainly be one of the best-looking on the calendar, although it’ll also likely be the most expensive race for fans in 2023.
It’s the first running of the event, but it’s not the first time F1 has raced in Sin City. The Caesar’s Palace Grand Prix was held twice starting in 1981, in the car park of the iconic casino. One several unsuccessful US street circuits in the 1980s (Detroit, Phoenix and Dallas being the others), F1 officials will hope for a better reception this time around.
The Qatar Grand Prix also returns to the calendar after it was first held in 2021 but skipped 2022 because of the World Cup hosted in the country.
How many triple-headers are there in F1 2023?
There will only be two triple headers in 2023, the Imola–Monaco–Barcelona trio that kicks off the European leg of the season, and Austin–Mexico–Interlagos in the Americas.
There’s five more races back-to-back though, and fans will need to get used to it with F1 aiming for a 25-race calendar for future seasons.
