The FIA recently released the timings chart for the 2023 F1 season calendar. As the year draws to a close, the sport is gradually gearing up for the new season's commencement.
Next season will have the highest number of races in the sport's history with 23 rounds. Though Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has declared that the season calendar's limit is 23 to 24 races, several fans believe that 23 races is too many.
There will be six sprint race weekends where the format and timings will slightly change. Local times have been provided for all practice sessions, followed by local and GMT times for qualifying and sprint sessions. Along with local and GMT timings, the race sessions are also provided with a sunset time.
Here is the entire calendar for the 2023 F1 season and the timings for each session:
Las Vegas is the only new race that has been added to the 2023 F1 season calendar. After the sport gained massive traction in the USA, the heads of F1 wanted to expand their reach in the country. Hence, they added two new races, the Miami GP in 2022 and the Las Vegas GP in 2023.
Fans can convert the local and GMT times given by the FIA and find out when the sessions will start for them; one thing to watch out for is the difference caused by Daylight Savings Time.
Additionally, sessions in Las Vegas will take place one day prior to the designated date. This is to ensure that most people living east of the city will be able to watch the session on the correct designated day due to the massive differences in time zone.
F1 plans to change season calendar to reduce travel-based emissions
F1 has been gradually working to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by the end of 2030. To reach their goal, the sport is trying to reduce its carbon footprint in whichever way possible. Since most of their emissions are travel-based, they will soon be trying to focus on it.
One of the suggested methods is to change the season calendar by grouping races closer to each other. As the entire paddock needs to be shifted from one circuit to another, several cargo planes are required. By grouping races that are closer to each other, several long-haul flights can be avoided.
For example, most races in the USA can be grouped next to each other so that some of the cargo could be transferred by other forms of transport.
Apart from this, the sport is also aiming to increase remote broadcast operations in order to reduce travel freight as well. Moreover, they are working hard on creating a 100% sustainable fuel and even introducing 55% sustainable fuel in F2 and F3 for the 2023 seasons.