F1 cancels event at Singapore GP
Formula One on Friday canceled the Singapore Grand Prix for the second year in a row because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The street course race in Singapore under floodlights had been scheduled for Oct. 3.
Singapore has largely relied on tight entry restrictions and contact tracing to keep infections low during the pandemic. Organizers said they would not be able to deliver “a full event experience fans have come to expect over the years, while safeguarding the health and safety of our fans, contractors, volunteers and staff.”
“We understand that our fans were looking forward to another edition of the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix,” said Colin Syn, deputy chairman of the Singapore GP. “To cancel the event for a second year is an incredibly difficult decision, but a necessary one in light of the prevailing restrictions for live events in Singapore.
The pandemic already has caused numerous changes to the 2021 calendar. The season-opener in Australia was postponed from March to November and the Canadian Grand Prix set for June 13 was canceled. Two other races in China and Turkey were postponed indefinitely.
As speculation mounted earlier Friday about Singapore’s imminent removal from the schedule, reports indicated F1 might schedule a second event in the United States this season. The series is scheduled to race at Circuit of the Americas on Oct. 24 in Austin, Texas.
The 2021 Singapore Grand Prix was scheduled to race Oct. 3 between the Russian and Japanese grand prix. The current schedule has a two-week window between the Oct. 10 race in Japan and the Oct. 24 race in Austin. After the Texas race, F1 travels to Mexico City the following week.
COTA Chairman Bobby Epstein told The Associated Press discussions of a second race in the United States, or a second race at COTA, are “paddock rumors.”
More Formula One
Mercedes is slow again on a street circuit in Baku, Azerbaijan, and Lewis Hamilton can’t understand why. The seven-time Formula One champion was a second off the pace of Red Bull driver Sergio Perez and nearly as far adrift of standings leader Max Verstappen. Even making the top 10 qualifying shootout on Saturday could be a challenge. With a lack of pace at the last race in Monaco, Hamilton was never in contention and dropped behind Verstappen in the standings. Baku is a street circuit like Monaco but presents a very different challenge with a long straight section along the seafront making top speed important. Perez set a time of 1 minute, 42.115 seconds in the second practice to lead Verstappen by 0.101 after the Dutch driver had been fastest in the first session.