Due to growing limitations on British travel to Turkey, Formula One has decided to postpone this year’s planned Turkish Grand Prix and instead hold two races in Austria. In recent weeks, there has been growing worriment over rising coronavirus infections in Turkey, and the 2020-21 UEFA Champions League Finalhadalso been relocated to Portugal due to travel restrictions imposed by the UK government.
With Turkey now on the red list, F1 has also taken action, moving the French Grand Prix up a week and the Styrian Grand Prix to June 25-27. The Austrian Grand Prix will be held in its original location the following week. The Formula 1 President Stefano Domenicali said in a statement: “We were all looking forward to racing in Turkey but the travel restrictions in place have meant we are not able to be there in June.
“Formula 1 has shown again that it is able to react quickly to developments and find solutions and we are delighted that we will have a doubleheader in Austria meaning our season remains at 23 races. Iwant to thank the promoter and authorities in Turkey for all of their efforts in recent weeks and want to thank the promoters in France and Austria for their speed, flexibility, and enthusiasm in accommodating this solution.”
F1 2021: Why does Austria have two Grand Prix?
A general view of the Formula One Grand Prix at Red Bull Ring. (Getty)
With each F1 Grand Prix requiring a distinct name during the season, the series has been accustomed to adopting odd race titles throughout the years. From Imola, which hosts the San Marino Grand Prix despite not being in the microstate, to the inventively called Caesars Palace Grand Prix in Las Vegas, F1 has frequently used various race names when a country hosts more than one Grand Prix in a season.
The Red Bull Ring is located in Styria, a state in southeast Austria. Graz is the capital city of Styria and Austria’s second-largest city after Vienna.
Because each event on the F1 calendar must have a unique name, both races at the Red Bull Ring could not have been dubbed the Austrian Grand Prix. As a result, the sport chose to name the second race at the site after the region in which the track is located, namely Styria.
No circuit in the history of the Formula One world championship has ever held two points-paying races in the same season. However, in non-championship years, tracks were periodically returned throughout the course of a year, but only one was deemed an F1 World Championship Grand Prix.
