Reports F1 street races at risk due to pandemic are “completely wrong"

Formula 1 has dismissed suggestions that street races will not go ahead as planned this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Reports which surfaced over the weekend claimed that street races in Monaco, Baku, Singapore and Jeddah, as well as the Canadian Grand Prix in June, were all under threat of being cancelled because of rising concerns over the spread of coronavirus.

Last year, the Monaco Grand Prix was not held for the first time since 1954 as it became an early casualty of the 2020 F1 calendar due to the COVID-19 outbreak, while races in Baku, Canada and Singapore were also shelved as a total of 13 events were cancelled.

Despite this, F1 was still able to successfully pull together a 17-round, European-centric world championship having re-written its 2020 schedule, with the season beginning in early July with a double-header held in Austria.

Amid concerns surrounding the emergence of new variants of the virus and new lockdowns being enforced across Europe, speculation over the viability of street races taking place this year has grown.

But F1 has moved to categorically deny claims that the aforementioned rounds will be cancelled.

In response to the reports, an F1 spokesperson told Crash.net: “We have set out the details of the revised 2021 calendar and there are no other changes. The suggestion street races will not take place are completely wrong.”

F1’s has already been forced to alter its initial plans for a record-breaking 23-round 2021 calendar, with the season start delayed by a week and moved to Bahrain after the Australian Grand Prix was postponed until November.

The Chinese Grand Prix has also been postponed but championship bosses hope to re-arrange the race later in the season.

As a result, Imola has been confirmed as returning to the F1 calendar to fill in as the second round of the season on 18 April, while the current ‘TBC’ slot on 2 May is expected to be taken by Portugal’s Portimao circuit.