F1 won’t replace Russian GP, cutting year’s slate to 22 races

Formula 1 will not replace the Russian Grand Prix, series management has confirmed.

The race in Sochi was canceled in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, with the sport's organizers leaving the original slot open as they worked through various replacement options to fit with the original schedule. However, F1 has elected simply to drop the race, rather than add another in its place.

More Formula 1

Brown says Horner F1 return would be a positive, more A-B teams not so much

What the revised Formula 1 regulations are predicted to achieve in Miami

Piastri says Verstappen departure would be ‘not a great look’ but Norris thinks he’ll stay

Formula 1 received plenty of interest from host venues but had to work out if any addition would prove beneficial to the schedule rather than increase costs in terms of logistics. Any races in Europe were ruled out due to EU freight rules, which would have led to a major logistical headache that required freight to return to base before heading back out for the next event.

With the original 23-race number set to be a record for an F1 season, the sport decided the most efficient approach was to simply drop the race that was originally slated for September 25 and leave two weeks between the previous three-straight slate in Europe and the following back-to-back weekends in Singapore and Japan.

As a result, there will be 22 grands prix this year, with 17 still remaining starting with this weekend’s round in Barcelona.