The 2022 F1 Calendar : A record 23-race calendar dawning the new era of racing

Formula 1 is vying to stage a record 23 races in 2022 with a new set of rules and regulations and a new generation of cars. The season kicks off in Bahrain on March 20 and concludes in the UAE on November 20 – the earliest finish in 12 years.

Kickstarting in Bahrain on March 20, 2022, and ending in Abu Dhabi on November 20, 2022, with the earliest finish in over a decade, Formula One has decided upon a 23-race calendar for the first year of its revolutionary new generation of cars, aiming to providing better racing and increased competition.

Grands Prix in Australia, Canada, Japan and Singapore are all set to return following a two-year hiatus, while China misses out for a third year running. Instead, the Emilia Romagna GP in Imola is slotted in as the fourth race, while both Turkey and Portugal miss out.

There is, however, a new race on the calendar, with the Miami GP in May as the US hosts two races in the F1 calendar for the first time since 1984.

Speaking to the media on the eve of announcing the 2022 Formula One Calendar, F1 CEO, Stefano Domenicali, said:

“We are excited to announce the 2022 calendar as we prepare to enter a new era for the sport.

“This season has been incredible so far with great battles on the track, large audiences tuning in and fans returning to the races after the impact of the pandemic. We look forward to welcoming more fans back next season and hope 2022 feels more normal than the life we have all experienced in the past two years.

“We are very pleased with the interest in Formula One from places that want to host races and the growth of the sport, and believe we have a fantastic calendar for 2022 with destinations like Miami joining famous and historic venues.

“The pandemic is still with us, and we will therefore continue to be vigilant and safe – to protect all our personnel and the communities we visit.”

Calendar in detail and Sprint races

The 2022 season will kick-off at the Sakhir International Circuit with the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 20, 2022, followed the weekend after by another duel in the desert, this time with the Saudi Arabian GP, which is making its debut this year as the penultimate round on the 2021 calendar at the all-new Jeddah Street Circuit.

After a break of two weeks, F1 hopes to return to Australia’s Albert Park Circuit for Round 3 on April 10 after a two-year break; the circuit previously used to serve as the season opener in the early 2000s.

The Emilia Romagna GP at Imola has provided two edge-of-the-seat races since making a comeback during the pandemic-hit 2020 season and has thus retained its spot in the 2022 calendar, this time slotted in as the fourth Grand Prix on April 10.

From San Marino, the F1 paddock will head west for the inaugural Miami GP that is set to be staged from May 6-8 around the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins.

May closes out with the traditional European season kicking in, with races in Spain and Monaco serving as the end-of-the-month double-header, before a two-week break takes us to Baku for the Azerbaijan GP followed by F1 returning to Canada — to Montréal — for the next set of double-headers.

July is a busy month for the F1 paddock, with four races set to take place from Silverstone to Budapest before the month-long mid-season break kicks in. The first of the four races takes place at Silverstone on July 3, followed by the Austrian GP at the Red Bull Ring on July 10. After a two-week break, we have another double-header closing out the month, with the French GP at Le Castellet and the Hungaroring GP in Budapest rounding off the first half of the season.

Following the mid-season break, we have two triple-headers on the trot just like the ongoing season, but with different venues.

The second half begins with the traditional Belgium GP at Spa-Francorchamps on August 28, followed the weekend after by the Dutch GP in Zandvoort and the Italian GP in Monza on September 11, capping off the first of the two triple-headers.

The second triple-header sees Russia, Singapore and Japan hosting races. This can potentially be the last time we see F1 cars racing on Russia’s Sochi circuit, while the fan-favourite, the Singapore and Japanese Grands Prix, are finally making their long-awaited comeback into the F1 calendar after the 2019 season.

From Suzuka, the season heads into a title run-in, with back-to-back races in the USA and Mexico before heading into the season finale with the final double-header of the season in Brazil (São Paulo) and the UAE (Abu Dhabi) to finish the campaign.

The F1 season, which is set to finish on November 20, a day before the start of the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Qatar, is the earliest end to a campaign since 2010.

Thus, the two major omissions are the Chinese GP and the Qatar GP. The Chinese GP, which had been on the calendar but missed out due to the COVID-19 pandemic in consecutive years, has failed to retain a slot for the 2022 season, while both parties remain optimistic that racing will be restored as soon as the situation there normalises.

Moreover, the Losail International Circuit in Qatar, which will host its first-ever Formula One race this season in place of the Australian GP, is absent from the 2022 calendar before a ten-year deal kicks in from the 2023 season.

On the Sprint races, the F1 CEO, Stefano Domenicali, was quite coy to give away anything. However, when talking to Sky F1 last month, Domenciali said the format, which has been successfully implemented at Silverstone and Monza this year and is due for its last leg at Interlagos, should “fill” at least “one-third” of the 2022 F1 calendar, hinting at the possibility of seven to eight Sprint weekends in the future.