Chinese Grand Prix to Stay in F1 Until at Least 2030

The Chinese Grand Prix will stay on the Formula 1 calendar until at least 2030 in a contract extension announced Friday even though F1’s first Chinese driver, Zhou Guanyu, is without a race seat next year.

F1’s previous contract to race at the Shanghai International Circuit, signed in 2021, had been due to run out next year. Shanghai hosts the second round of the 2025 season from March 21 through 23, including a sprint race.

Races at Shanghai were repeatedly cancelled amid the pandemic. The first Chinese Grand Prix was held in 2004. It did not take place from 2020 through 2023.  In a statement announcing the extension, F1 claimed a “fanbase” of 150 million people in China and said most had started to follow F1 in the last four years.

Friday’s announcement continues a series of moves from Formula 1 in future scheduling.

Formula 1 will race at the beachside track at Zandvoort in the Netherlands for two more years before the Dutch Grand Prix falls off the series calendar after 2026. F1 said it was the local promoter’s decision not to continue world champion Max Verstappen‘s home Grand Prix after 2026. Verstappen won the first three editions of the race after it returned to the F1 calendar in 2021 for the first time since 1985. Lando Norris won this year.

The series also recently announced that the Italian Grand Prix will remain on the calendar until 2031 as part of a six-year extension to the existing agreement, which runs through 2025. Monza has hosted a grand prix since the inaugural world championship in 1950. Charles Leclerc secured Ferrari a rare win at Monza on September 1. Next year’s edition is scheduled for September 7.

Earlier this summer, F1 announced the Canadian Grand Prix will move to the third or fourth weekend of May each year starting in 2026 in the latest schedule adjustment to have a more cohesive travel schedule for teams. Formula 1 also extended a contract with the Monaco Grand Prix for six more years through 2031 as the grand prix will be contested on the first full weekend in June.

The move will allow the European leg of the F1 season to be consolidated into one consecutive period over Europe’s summer months and is planned to remove an additional transatlantic crossing each year. The Japanese Grand Prix has moved to the spring to align with races in the Asia Pacific region, Azerbaijan has moved to the autumn as the championship turns east to Singapore and Qatar has moved to be closely aligned with Abu Dhabi at the end of the season.