F1 "assessing" Turkish GP situation after country 'red listed' by UK government

Formula 1

F1 "assessing" Turkish GP situation after country 'red listed' by UK government

The Turkish Grand Prix was only added to the calendar last week

Sam Hall

Friday 7 May 2021 20:50 Updated: 21:45

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The viability of the recently announced Turkish Grand Prix has been thrown into doubt after the UK government added the country to its red list.

Last week, the Canadian Grand Prix was cancelled for 'public health reasons' and F1 announced it would instead stage a race in Turkey for the second time in as many years.

The plans have now been cast into doubt after the UK government placed Turkey on its red list. Although this does not outright ban travel between the two countries, it does require travellers to quarantine in a hotel for 10 days upon their return.

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For red-listed countries, government advice states: "You should not travel to red list countries or territories for leisure purposes."

The Turkish Grand Prix is currently slated to take place between June 11-13 but despite there being a weekend break between it and the French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard, a 10-day quarantine period is unlikely to allow time for the set up work required for a race weekend to be completed.

An F1 spokesperson told GPFans Global: “We are aware of the announcement made by the UK government regarding travel restrictions for Turkey and are assessing the situation and will provide more details in the coming days.”

In March, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown stated his team was "anticipating some Covid impact" this year.

He said: “I think we will lose a race or two. Not long ago the calendar was 15 to 16, 17 to 18 races so I think if we can get in 20 races over a normal calendar season that is a very complete Formula 1 schedule."

Before the season began, the Australian and Chinese Grands Prix were both postponed with the former rescheduled for November.

Races in South America and Asia currently on the calendar to take place later this year also remain in doubt with much depending on the government's travel restrictions.