2021 Formula 1: Japanese Grand Prix cancelled for second year in a row due to resurgence of Covid-19

The Japanese Grand Prix has been cancelled for the 2021 season of Formula 1. This makes it the second year in succession that the race has been axed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has seen the country sustain a resurgence in infection numbers recently.

“Formula 1 is now working on details of the revised calendar and will announce the final details in the coming weeks. Formula 1 has proven this year, and in 2020 that we can adapt and find solutions to the ongoing uncertainties and is excited by the level of interest from locations to host Formula 1 events this year and beyond,” Formula 1 said in a statement.

Cancellation of the Japanese round this year has occured despite promises by Formula 1 to impose special conditions on all personnel travelling to Japan, reported Motorsport.com. The 2021 Japanese Grand Prix was originally scheduled to take place on October 10, as the third fly-away race after departing from Europe, after Russia and Turkey.

These measures included compulsory private-charter flights from the preceding Grand Prix in Istanbul, Turkey with Covid-19 testing upon arrival, travel limited to between hotels and the circuit with no outside restaurants or shopping allowed, security at each hotel to ensure the personnel involved do not leave, and evening meals only at the circuit.

One of the major issues facing personnel travelling with Formula 1 from future rounds in Turkey, Mexico and Brazil is that these countries are on the United Kingdom red list, which requires travellers from countries listed to quarantine for 10 days in a government-approval hotel.

There are around 1,000 UK-based personnel, and the original plan was for the trip to Japan to take up one week of the 10-day window after the round in Istanbul, Turkey, where F1-involved personnel would remain for a few more days before returning to the UK, wrote Motorsport.com, though the site also presumes that efforts are underway to shuffle another round to take place after Istanbul.

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