Weekly roundup: Calendar, contracts, silly season and more
Here's a guide to everything that happened this past week, where drivers, teams and journalists took some time off before the last third of the season, and the comeback of F1's Official Night Race in Singapore.
FIA Confirms 2023 Calendar
First off, the FIA has announced and confirmed the official 2023 Race Schedule, featuring a record 24 races for next season. The 2023 F1 season will start in Bahrain and end in Abu Dhabi, as it's been happening in the last two years, but more than one changes have been implemented, comparing to this year's calendar.
The Chinese Grand Prix is making its comeback, and will take its place back in the calendar on the 16th of April. Azerbaijan has moved back to end of April, instead of the beginning of June, with Miami following on the first weekend of May.
Another switch that's interesting is that of Monaco and Spain. It has been announced that Monaco will stay on the F1 calendar until the end of 2025, and has switched places with Spain. The dates are now May 28 for the Monte Carlo GP and June 4 for the Catalunya GP. Monaco and Spain are part of the first triple header of the season starting from Emilia Romagna on the 21st of May and ending in Spain.
Interestingly, the Belgian GP will be the last race before the summer break, in contrast to its usual place in the calendar, which used to make Spa the first circuit F1 visited after the end of the summer siesta. The Netherlands will take over that position, and drivers will face Zandvoort first when they return from their holidays.
The Losail International Circuit will return as well, after a one-year hiatus, to complete its first of 10 years that it'll hold a place in the F1 calendar, after signing a 10-year contract with F1's promoters, starting from 2023.
There has been tension between the FIA and the teams because of the second triple header that's late in the season, consisting of the USA, Mexico and Brazil, as the teams hadn't given their approval on that, when the FIA released the calendar.
F1 advertises Las Vegas as the most anticipated race in the history of the sport, and it's supposed to be the penultimate race of the season, right before the season ending in Abu Dhabi.
Tsunoda re-signs for AlphaTauri
Yuki Tsunoda is set to continue for another season with AlphaTauri, but his teammate is yet to be confirmed, as silly season is skyrocketing, when no-one was expecting that many changes to the 2023 grid.
Nyck De Vries In Talks With AlphaTauri
Pierre Gasly might have already been confirmed by AlphaTauri, but there are strong rumours suggesting that Nyck de Vries is in talks with the Italian, Red Bull-backed, team. The Dutch driver showed some true pace on his F1 debut at the Italian GP, in which he participated, replacing Alex Albon, who had an appendicitis operation.
Multiple sources refer to de Vries as a strong contestant for Gasly's seat, but AT hasn't confirmed anything just yet. Rumours also say that AlphaTauri might release Gasly, so he can choose where to go next freely. Next stop: Alpine.
It was made known that Alpine is considering many drivers as candidates for Fernando Alonso's seat, who has departed from the French team, to race for Aston Martin from 2023 on. Jack Doohan is also one of the seat candidates, but is seems like the team would want to opt for a more experienced driver, such as Gasly.
Nicholas Latifi to Leave Williams after 2022 – Is Logan Sargeant an Option for the team?
It was announced on Friday, that Nicholas Latifi will not continue racing with Williams in 2023. That, of course, wasn't a well-kept secret, as it was being for months, that the Canadian wasn't going to race for the British team next season.
Now, there is officially an empty seat at the Grove factory, which looks like Logan Sargeant is going to fill. The young Williams academy driver is set to participate in FP1 at the United States Grand Prix in October, while more blabs around his name have emerged.
It seems like Williams is seriously considering him as a seat filler, and there's no doubt that his performance at the practice session in which he'll participate, will be highly deciding.