Valencia dropped from provisional 2013 F1 calendar

2013 F1 calendar

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The 2013 F1 calendar will include 20 races again as New Jersey takes Valencia’s place on the schedule.

A provisional calendar revealed by Autosport is otherwise largely similar to this year’s.

Valencia and the Circuit de Catalunya are expected to enter into a race-sharing arrangement for the Spanish Grand Prix.

The races in New Jersey, Singapore and Korea are all pending confirmation for contractual reasons.

The season will once again being in Australia and finish in Brazil. The loss of the European Grand Prix means just seven races will take place within Europe.

Provisional 2013 F1 calendar

RoundRaceCircuitDateForum
1Australian Grand PrixAlbert ParkMarch 15 – 17Forum
2Malaysian Grand PrixSepang International CircuitMarch 22 – 24Forum
3Chinese Grand PrixShanghai International CircuitApril 12 – 14Forum
4Bahrain Grand PrixBahrain International CircuitApril 19 – 21Forum
5Spanish Grand PrixCircuit de CatalunyaMay 10 – 12Forum
6Monaco Grand PrixMonte-CarloMay 23 – 26Forum
7Canadian Grand PrixCircuit Gilles VilleneuveJune 7 – 9Forum
8Grand Prix of AmericaNew JerseyJune 14 – 16Forum
9British Grand PrixSilverstoneJune 28 – 30Forum
10German Grand PrixTBCJuly 19 – 21Forum
11Hungarian Grand PrixHungaroringJuly 26 – 28Forum
12Belgian Grand PrixSpa-FrancorchampsAugust 30 – September 1Forum
13Italian Grand PrixMonzaSeptember 6 – 8Forum
14Singapore Grand PrixSingaporeSeptember 20 – 22Forum
15Japanese Grand PrixSuzukaOctober 4 – 6Forum
16Korean Grand PrixKorean International CircuitOctober 11 – 13Forum
17Indian Grand PrixBuddh International CircuitOctober 25 – 27Forum
18Abu Dhabi Grand PrixYas MarinaNovember 1 – 3Forum
19United States Grand PrixCircuit of the AmericasNovember 15 – 17Forum
20Brazilian Grand PrixInterlagosNovember 22 – 24Forum

2013 F1 season


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Image © Williams/LAT

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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89 comments on “Valencia dropped from provisional 2013 F1 calendar”

  1. I’m actually annoyed about no Valencia. Vettel has always been mega there.

    1. @91jb12 I can’t say I am, I think it’s a wretched circuit.

      But unfortunate that it disappears just after finally producing a decent race – it’s still the highest-rated Grand Prix so far this year:

      https://www.racefans.net/2012/09/19/rate-race-results-2012-italian-grand-prix/

      But presumably it will be back as the host of the 2014 Spanish Grand Prix.

      1. @keithcollantine I think the race was exciting because of the high number of retirements at crucial stages of the race. The alternator retirements, Maldonado and Hamilton a few laps before the end, safety cars. The track itself is quite dismal. Not so sad to see it alternate with Catalunya.

        1. There was also an absolute mass of overtaking. I mean, historically Valencia has been rubbish, but it was one of the few genuinely thrilling races this year.

          1. And who can forget the long train of cars created by Schumi I believe due to his tyres going off, really symbolised the season at the time although ultimately the train ended with Kobayashi & Senna colliding just before the swing bridge.

          2. mainly because of drs

      2. To be fair, it took a field of tightly balanced cars, unpredictable tyres, a perfectly balanced DRS and 2 alternator failures to make Valencia interesting. It was good to watch, yes, but the track itself played no significant part in the excitement of that race.

  2. Oh, so the FIA decide to drop the one circuit that produced the best dry race all season…?

    1. Or you could look at it as Bernie dropping the event that has only produced one good race in five years.

      1. Knew I should’ve put a winky face there.

        1. I think we understood even without it @mangnificent-geoffrey, after all 20% of the enjoyment came from surprise at seeing a real race!

  3. I will not miss Valencia at all, but I’m still fed up with Bahrain. It’s not only about the political situation, It’s about the race being for nobody beside the royal family. No show, no fans, no racing atmosphere around it. I’m happy about both american races, but regarding the future I’m eagerly waiting for France to come back one day and I hope for another race in South America.

    1. @cyclops_pl

      It’s not only about the political situation, It’s about the race being for nobody beside the royal family. No show, no fans, no racing atmosphere around it.

      Can’t argue with any of that.

    2. I don’t think there’s really anywhere else in South America that could reasonably hold a race. From the sounds of things, Argentina was a lot of hot air, and our man on the street – Fer no.65 – reckons it was never even a little bit realistic. Otherwise, you’ve got countries wracked by poverty (like Bolivia), banana republics (like Ecuador), and countries that have reputations for being very violent places (like Colombia). Chile is the only South American nation that I can think which might be able to have a race, but I don’t know if their population or economy would be enough to sustain it.

      1. Re: PM. Your man Julian Assange, loves bananas. In fact, I hear that’s all he’s been eating these past few weeks.. :)

      2. Chile is the only South American nation that I can think which might be able to have a race, but I don’t know if their population or economy would be enough to sustain it.

        A race in the Atacama with the observatories in the backdrop?
        I’m sold.

        1. and more spectators than Bahrain!

      3. Colombia is much better than it was some 10 years ago. It’s one of the most remarkable stories in LatAm.

        1. A Bogata grand prix might actually be a solid idea–as far as I know, the city is safe and cosmopolitan enough, and an F1 race could be a worth it just to advertize that to the world and rebuild the country’s reputation. (And I wouldn’t mind another race within the normal waking hours of the western hemisphere.)

      4. our man on the street

        @prisoner-monkeys I like that xD

    3. I agree with that sentiment @cyclops_pl, as far as France is concerned I saw Joe Saward mention the gap between Silverstone and Germany:

      The most interesting gap is between Silverstone and Germany, with three weeks without a race. A gambler might suggest that this is the perfect place to slip in a 21st race, probably France, which would be nice and easy for the teams

      that would be a bit of a boost!

  4. As expected, although there is an annoying three-week gap between Britain and Germany. Obviously America is 1 week after Canada, instead of Valencia which was 2 weeks after, so they have dragged Britain forward a week. Not sure why they can’t move Germany forward a week as well, so it’s not back-to-back with Hungary. On the plus side the America race is when I had hoped, as I should be on holiday there at that time so would be able to go :-)

    1. Not sure why they can’t move Germany forward a week as well, so it’s not back-to-back with Hungary.

      Probably because they want to give the teams and drivers a bit of a break between races, rather than having one every two weeks.

  5. It’s a shame Bahrain and Korea are still on the 2013 calendar, two races that have never excited me and never will without some sort of divine miracle.

    1. I quite like Korean circuit actually, I think it’s a good test of the cars technically. I agree about Bahrain though. At most, there should be one race in the middle east, and if we can’t have it on a good circuit let’s at least have a spectacular setting.

      1. I also can not understand the negativity towards Korea, it has a brilliant new track, look at the races and fights it has produced, like Hamilton and Webber fighting for half a lap SIDE BY SIDE!!!

        It is fast and technical, half the track is in close proximity to concrete walls, but it is safe, I for one think it is brilliant, especially for a new circuit. The Indian circuit got high praise and I sort of like it as well, but it did not convince me in its inaugural GP like the Korean circuit did.

    2. Bahrain may not be yet. Apparently certain sponsors threatening to withdraw logos from car if they go 2013 after International PR disaster this years race. http://thejudge13.com/2012/09/21/258/

      1. I’ll believe it when I see it. For one, I do not trust any source that is effectively “I know some people who know some people”. And secondly, if the situation in Bahrain were to stabilise, then sponsors would probably be less apprehensive about it.

        1. Shell didn’t take anyone on hospitality this year.

          1. And if you read other items in the blog it called Jake leaving the BBC the week before it was announced.

          2. Correlation does not simply causation. Just because Shell did not offer hospitality this year, that does not mean that they will do the same next year.

            Likewise, accurately predicting one unrelated event does not automatically mean that every article posted is correct.

          3. Also appears this blog first reported the purchase of CVC stock by Singaporean Capital fund consortium (thursday) and also that this would significantly ease negotiations over the future of the race – it clearly did

            Anyway, most stuff you say starts with broadly – “I think, followed by reasoned argument…”

            What’s the diff with this article saying “I heard…” followed by what I consider very well argued reasoning.

  6. United States Grand Prix and Grand Prix of America. What next: The U.S Grand Prix, The American Grand Prix & the Grand Prix of The USA all held in America???

    1. Presuming they don’t want to call New Jersey the American Grand Prix (as it’s a name that suggests primacy and the US Grand Prix boys wouldn’t like it), I would have thought calling it the North American Grand Prix (a la European) would be a better idea.

      1. I however am displeased with the staging of 2 races in U.S.A – country obsessed with Indy car and Nascar – why to pack the calendar just to woo the US people which they’ll never be!!

        1. Why does it matter what Americans like? There are plenty fans here and it should be a great success (at least in NJ). And hopefully this will only bolster it popularity among casual fans and newcomers – which can only be good for the sport at large.

        2. Only the southern and rural parts of the US are obsessed with Nascar, and I don’t know if anyone at all is obsessed with Indy car. The northern cities and left-leaning trendy places (like new york and Austin) tend to look down on Nascar and its fans for being respectively boring and rednecks. (I’m just stating a fact, not saying it’s justified). There are a lot of people in the US who aren’t currently obsessed with any particular racing series (but are generally familiar with the idea), could probably be sold on one that’s glamorous and european*, and can afford to buy the things that F1’s sponsors sell. Plus, if F1 built up a US following, they could probably sell the tv rights for a lot more than speed is currently paying. And what other justification does F1 need to go anywhere?
          *I’m gagging just typing that.

    2. Better than having the US Grand Prix West, the Detroit Grand Prix and the (wait for it) Caesars Palace Grand Prix *cringe

      1. davidnotcoulthard
        21st September 2012, 16:00

        Lewis pushing his car to the finish?

      2. I would love to see Detroit host the Detroit Grand Prix again – I always enjoyed the Belle Isle circuit. @crazy.mechanic – I’d much prefer 2 F1 races than any Nascar or Indy car. I’d be willing to bet that there are a lot of US fans who agree with me.

    3. If the race was on the west coast, they could always revive the Pacific Grand Prix name. And if it was on the eastern seaboard, then the Atlantic Grand Prix could be created. Then there’s always taking a cue from Abu Dhabi – Abu Dhabi is not a country, but rather an emirate, and fits into the wider United Arab Emirates,but the organisers wanted to to identify the race as taking place in Abu Dhabi (rather than a lesser-known emirate like Umm al-Quwain), so naming the race after a capital city might work; MotoGP do this with the Indianapolis Grand Prix and the Grand Prix of the Valencian Community. And speaking of MotoGP, they’re less fussy about countries hosting more than one race (Spain has four), so they often use regional names, like the Aragon Grand Prix or Catalan Grand Prix, so naming a race after a state is always a possibility.

      So there’s plenty of opportunities.

    4. United States Grand Prix East (Watkins Glen) and United States Grand Prix West (Long Beach), have been used in the past.
      Also Detroit Grand Prix and Dallas Grand Prix etc..
      I guess Austin is too central to have the East or West tagged to it and probably would not want to give up the title they already had.

    5. It’s quite obvious it should be called the” Formula 1 World Championship” in keeping with the many other sporting World Series & Championships they hold in the USA. :)

    6. @kani

      It’s like European GP and Spanish GP. European GP was held in GB and Germany as well.

    7. Just to put it in a distance perspective:

      Austin, TX – New Jersey = ~2700 km / ~1700 miles

      Silverstone Circuit – Istanbul Park = 2613 km / 1624 mi
      – info from

  7. I don’t really understand why there are some 3 week breaks between races at the beginning of the season. Especially between Malaysia and China, so the teams have to fly all their kit and personnel out to Australia and Malaysia, to fly them back to Europe, to then fly them all back out to the far east again? Given that the FIA want to cut costs and be seen as being green, this seems pretty counter-productive… It also makes the season longer than it needs to be, I’m sure the teams would appreciate the season being 3 weeks shorter. Is there a method to the FIA’s madness? Perhaps the WMSC will change this… I doubt it.

    If I were to make any amendments I like to the calender it would be the above, followed by dropping both Bahrain and Korea. Bahrain because of the reasons @cyclops_pl outlined in an above post and Korea because it is in the middle of nowhere, the infrastructure surrounding it is appalling, it’s poorly attended and I really don’t see it ever getting any better. Weren’t there rumours of the organisers trying to reduce their fees as well? Can’t see them being able to afford it for much longer. With the two extra spaces on the calender I’d bring back the French GP (I think 8 european grand prix is a good number) and either another South American GP (Argentina?) a Mexican GP or a South African GP.

    Otherwise, it looks alright :P

  8. I may have to change my handle to “swap Bahrain for Botswana”

  9. Surely the American Grand Prix should be at the Circuit of the Americas?

    1. @toothpickbandit F1’s had another attack of spurious nomenclature, so we have both a “United States Grand Prix” and a “Grand Prix of America”.

      Not the first time, of course, nor even the most egregious example: we’ve had the Swiss Grand Prix in France and the Luxembourg Grand Prix in Germany.

      1. @toothpickbandit @keithcollantine And of course every single San Marino Grand Prix has taken place 100km from San Marino’s border.

      2. or a Grand Prix named after a casino

    2. @toothpickbandit – The Circuit of the Americas was named as such and scheduled to host the United States Grand Prix before the race in New Jersey was established. In retrospect, they probably could have set things up so that the Circuit of the Americas hosted the Grand Prix of America, but there were no plans for a second race when the race in Texas was set up, and by the time it was set up, it was too late to change anything.

  10. First time in F1 history that another continent has held more races than Europe. Asia 8 to Europe 7.

    Some might say this is the changing face of F1, however considering the nationalities of the drivers and teams, the crowd attendances, the TV viewing figures and of course the history of the sport, I would say it is more of a money grab by the sports commercial rights holder.

  11. Europe – 7
    Rest of the world – 13

    1. And the fact that most of the teams are still based in england is quite remarkable. Mark my words now that the coverage is PPV and the numbers are falling on the BBC Caterham, Redbull, Merc, Force india and possibly Lotus will all be moving their manufacturing bases over to Asia. This is massive economical disaster for uk manufacturing in general the BBC and UK government have a lot to answer for for lack of investement etc. I’m aware its a global sport etc but the roots are in europe and thats where it should stay IMO. Otherwise the soul of the sport which is hard to quantify will be lost and it will become just another motorsport format.

      1. Of course they won’t.

      2. Mate the only reason they are in the UK is because people in the UK seem to be the best at it, (Italians do well too…) Chinese are currently very good at production/work but no so good at innovation, this may be because of thier very diciplined/strict education, maybe not, but the teams won’t move to Asia unless Asia proves overwhelingly better at innovation, so far even the Japanese have not done that.

      3. Leave UK because it’s PPV? I don’t get it.

    2. So? That’s ‘better’ than last year anyway, if you consider lots of races in F1’s homeland a bad thing.

    3. I’m not seeing your point. Are you trying to suggest that European races are being replaced by races outside Europe?

      Because that’s not true. The calendar had just sixteen races as recently as 2003. In the time since, the sport has grown at a rate of one race per season, to the point where the number of races outside Europe has outnumbered the races in Europe. And some of the European races that have been dropped – like France – are actively trying to get back into the sport.

      Besides, I don’t see why it’s so essential that Formula 1 limits itself to Europe. It is, after all, the Formula 1 World Championship. Not the Formula 1 European Championship.

    4. Once Bahrain and UAE (Mid East) are “Asian” countries it’s Europe 7 and Asia 8 (!) or alternatively:

      Europe: 7 (Spain, Monaco, GB, Germany, Hungary, Belgium, Italy)
      Far East: 6 (Malaysia, China, Singapore, Japan, Korea, India)
      North America: 3 (Canada, America, USA)
      Mid East: 2 (Bahrain, Abu Dhabi)
      Oceania: 1 (Australia)
      South America: 1 (Brazil)

  12. i will miss it.

  13. I am very excited about the New Jersey circuit.

  14. I’m still holding out hope to make it to my first grand prix next year, and I would really, really love for that one to be the New Jersey GP. Here’s hoping it continues to look like good news on their end!

    1. Yeah, I hope it does go through and proves to be a stunner.

  15. I’m still rather annoyed that the interesting tracks (Turkey, Valencia) seem to be getting dropped, all so we can have 2 races in a country that hasn’t really grasped F1 yet..

    Say the USA don’t take to the Texas GP in November (Despite the fact it’ll probably be the on to decide the championship in my mind) and subsequent ticket sales aren’t good.. We then have a GP in New Jersey, where the main USP of the weekend still seems to be the backdrop rather than the actual race… I’d prefer to have races in Russia or France, where the popularity has been proven, and the focus is on the track more than the backdrop…

    1. I think you might just be the first person to call Valencia “interesting” …

    2. Valencia isn’t an interesting track. That isn’t opinion, it’s fact.

      Considering your argument is that the track should be the priority, it is strange that you are arguing against two of the most interesting additions to the calender in ages. They both have plenty of fast corners, overtaking spots and elevation changes.

    3. Todd (@braketurnaccelerate)
      21st September 2012, 18:47

      @keeleyobsessed – The USGP in Texas this year is mostly sold out already. Only a few premium seats remain in turn one and turn 15, even General Admission is sold out.. It’s been so long since we’ve had a real Grand Prix in America (hard to call Indy a Grand Prix) that no one has any idea how “strong” the American F1 fan base is. It is definitely not as strong percentage wise as UK or the rest of Europe, but to say that all Americans haven’t ‘grasped’ F1 yet is rubbish, as most would say.

      http://circuitoftheamericas.com/tickets

  16. Interesting – Joe Saward’s wondering if a French Grand Prix could be slipped into that three-week gap between Britain & Germany.
    F1 calendar leaks

    1. @bullfrog Don’t see it myself. Surely it would be on the provisional calendar…because it’s provisional. There are races on it already where contracts are yet to be agreed which would technically be the same situation for a French GP.

    2. probably a reserve in case Bahrain is a bust.

  17. Let’s all hope that F1 really starts to catch on in the US, otherwise F1 will be wasting a calendar slot by having two races in the US. Fortunately though, both circuits look good so far.

    1. @blockwall2, here,here, also consider the value to the teams of being able to sell sponsorship deals to companies active in the US market, it might reduce the need to cut costs/innovation.

  18. Interlagos is still the finale. All is well.

  19. Back to back Spa and Monza again, niiiice. I might try and visit them both…that would be pretty special!

    1. @andrewtanner it’d be the “jealous moment of the year” for me if you do it, mate !

  20. Well at least they are getting rid of some of the European races. Once they have a race in Africa they will be able to call it a World Championship.

  21. I’ve misread something – where’s the Nurburgring? Hockenheim was this year, I thought they were alternating?

    1. @iamdanthomas Quoted from this article…

      “Hockenheim is listed as the host track of the German Grand Prix. The Nurburgring was due to hold next year’s race in their race-sharing arrangement, but the circuit has run into financial difficulties.”

      1. @andrewtanner Oh man, I feel so embarrassed. I hate it when people don’t read articles properly, now I’ve gone and done it.

        1. @iamdanthomas That’s alright. But you should feel embarrassed ;)

    2. @iamdanthomas At some point the provisional calendar was changed and the venues for the German Grand Prix switched. I’ve enquired with the FIA and they say they cannot confirm which track will hold it yet, so I’ve marked it as ‘TBC’ now.

  22. I know I’m in a small minority who actually rate Valencia as on of my favorite circuits. The amount of full throttle acceleration thru long stretches of multiple corners is unmatched (maybe rivaled by Spa)! The in-car videos at Valencia are my favorite example to show people how F1 cars work.

  23. The Autosport article claims that it is Nurburgring rather than Hockenheim that is hosting the German GP.

  24. There are about six circuits still on this calendar that I couldnt give a monkeys about, and I wait to be surprised by the American tracks. Dont see the point of building brand new circuits when they already have some fantastic tracks in the USA.

    As much as I think France should have a GP Paul Ricard doesnt excite me because it looks like a migraine on tarmac.

  25. Come on Jenson….Button all the way for the Brits…Can’t wait until he comes here to Melbourne

  26. Jenson Button lol It’s all about Lewis Hamiliton….In terms of the cut in circuits for Europe, I reckon they should build a track in central Australia

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