Updated: 2022 F1 calendar and standings

2022 F1 Drivers’ Championship standings

Update: Russian Grand Prix will not be replaced

Updated 16:15 Wednesday 19^th May 2022. Formula 1 has announced the Russian GP will not be replaced and that the 2022 season will now comprise only 22 races. The race was set to take place in Sochi on 25^th September, but following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24^th February, F1 teams, the FIA and F1 agreed the race would not go ahead.

Update: 2022 Russian Grand Prix cancelled

Updated 12:10 Friday 25^th February 2022. The 2022 Russian Grand Prix has been cancelled. The move came after a day of pressure on F1 from teams and drivers following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

On Thursday evening (24^th February) F1 teams met with Formula 1 and the FIA to discuss the situation and it was decided that it would be “impossible” to hold the Grand Prix Russia in the current situation.

Nor announcement has been made as to whether it will be replaced with a new event.

2022 F1 Calendar and results

As in 2021 the season will begin in Bahrain at Sakhir with a night race, before the short trip across the Arabian peninsula to Jeddah for the second Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The Australian round, the traditional opening race, has moved to the calendar’s third spot, to allow for more time to prepare following Australia’s strict Covid-19 restrictions.

The teams will then face a series of global treks, flying from Australia to Italy in late April before heading across the Atlantic to Miami for the first ever Miami Grand Prix, then returning to Europe for the Spanish Grand Prix in early May.

The European season will then be punctuated by a return to Canada in June before the British Grand Prix moves to an early-July date before Austria. The summer break follows the Hungarian Grand Prix on 31^st July then a pair of triple headers will send the teams around the world. The Belgian, Dutch and Italian grands prix are back-to-back and then the Russian, Singapore and Japanese races also come one after the other.

The Japanese Grand Prix takes a traditional October slot before the second race of the season in the United States of America runs back-to-back with the Mexican Grand Prix. The season will finish with the Brazilian and Abu Dhabi races, ending the season a full month earlier than 2021.

A spokesperson for F1 said: “The 2022 season follows an unprecedented two years for Formula 1 in which the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in revised calendar of 17 races in 2020 and 22 races in 2021 – a huge achievement given the international nature of the sport.”

Update: F1 Sprints return in 2022

Updated 17:00 Monday 14^th February 2022. F1 has announced that three Sprint Races will take place in the 2022 season. There were a trio of experimental Sprints in 2021, which saw the grid set for the Sunday race by a 100km sprint on Saturday, with the top three sprint finishers getting championship points.

Sprints in 2022 will differ slightly, with points now paid to the top eight finishers and the official pole position being claimed by the faster driver in the Friday session. The grid for the main Grand Prix on Sunday will still be set by the finishing positions on Saturday.

This year’s trio of Sprint races will take place at Imola, the Red Bull Ring and Interlagos.

Update: Inaugural Miami Grand Prix to take place in May 2022

Updated 15:00 Thursday 23^rd September 2021. The organisers of the much-delayed F1 Miami Grand Prix have announced that the city’s debut event will take place in May 2022 as intended. The race is expected to be the first of two dates in the US in 2022, with the Circuit of the Americas likely to host its usual round later in the season.

The Miami Grand Prix’s date of 6^th-8^th May 2022 will mean a bit of a logistical headache for teams, who are expected to have to swing through the Middle East and China to begin the season before the journey to Miami ends the flyaway rounds. They will then likely need to return to Europe for back-to-back rounds in Spain and Monaco.

“We’ve worked hard to create a track with great racing and a venue with unparalleled fan experiences,” said Tom Garfinkel, managing partner of the Miami Grand Prix.

“There has been tremendous enthusiasm and anticipation for this event, and we’re happy to be able to announce the date so that people can start planning for it.”

The 2022 calendar is set to be announced in October after a meeting of the World Motor Sport Countil (WMSC).

Update: 2022 F1 calendar to be announced on October 15^th

Updated 17:00 Wednesday 22^nd September. F1’s CEO Stefano Domenicali has confirmed that the 2022 F1 calendar will be announced on October 15^th after a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC).

Speaking to CNN the former Ferrari boss confirmed that the plan for 2022 was to hold a 23-race season, one more than will be held in 2021. The original plan for the current season had been for a 23 race calendar, but Covid-19 pandemic pressures have forced a reduction to the current figure of 22.

Domenicali also confirmed that the ’22 season will finish earlier than this season, which will end in Abu Dhabi on December 12^th. The 2021 season currently has a space for another race in November. It is thought that this race will be at Qatar, but an announcement is expected soon.

Update: 2022 British GP date announced – first weekend in July

Updated 11:00 Friday 10^th September 2021. The 2022 British F1 Grand Prix at Silverstone has become the first race on the calendar to get a provisional date after the BRDC – which owns Silverstone – announced it would take place on 1^st-3^rd July 2022.

The date is a move back to the British F1 round’s more traditional early-July slot, having taken place two weeks later in 2021 on 18^th July. 

Over 140,000 fans were able to attend the British Grand Prix this year, one of the first major motorsports to take place with fans in the UK, following the Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard the weekend before, and Silverstone will be hoping for a repeat in a sunny July slot in 2022.

The full provisional calendar is expected to be announced in the next few weeks, with complications delaying the announcement as organisers try to sort out both the complex 2022 schedule and rearrange races in 2021 due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

2022 F1 race contracts

That leaves the Abu Dhabi, Emilia Romagna, Monaco, Portuguese, Spanish, Styrian, Turkish and United States Grands Prix without confirmed deals for 2022. While we can probably expect the Styrian Grand Prix not to return, should the calendar not need filling with double rounds, the Emilia Romagna and Portuguese Grands Prix may hope to remain, although without extra budget appearing it would be difficult to expect them to be back. The same situation is true for the Turkish Grand Prix, which stepped in to replace Australia in 2021.

Of the remaining races Monaco, Abu Dhabi and Spain are almost certain to return and there seems little appetite to leave the US with a single race, so the Circuit of the Americas will probably hold a race again.

Although no indication has been given of the structure of the 2022 calendar, it is now expected that Australia will not host the opening round after a two-year absence. Melbourne’s race had hosted the first race of each F1 season since 1996 except one, but has been missing from F1’s season for two years. Organisers admitted recently that they did not expect to open the season in 2022.

We expect F1 2022 to begin in Bahrain before the Chinese Grand Prix, and then head for the usual European F1 season, beginning in Spain and Monaco in Spring. Canada will most like provide a break from the European rounds either before or after the British and French grands prix while the Hungarian race will most likely precede the mandated summer break.

The second portion of the 2022 F1 calendar will most likely start with the Belgian and Italian GPs before the Formula 1 circus heads away from Europe to the Americas. While no actual dates have been given for the US and Miami grands prix (should COTA return) it’s expected that they will sit at least a few months away from each other on the calendar.

With F1’s head Stefano Domenicali confirming that the calendar is not going to expand beyond the 23-race calendar that was originally scheduled for 2021, there may be some nervous moments for the races currently without deals, before the first provisional calendar comes out in a few weeks’ time. As soon as that F1 calendar is announced, usually around F1’s summer break, we’ll bring you the full rundown right here on GRR.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.