F1 season wraps up with next year’s China race in doubt
Meanwhile, the CBA has abandoned its plans to return to a home-and-away format for the rest of the season, and Dwight Howard dominated in his Taiwan debut.
Formula One boss Stefano Domenicali has admitted that next year’s Chinese GP remains in doubt after yet more zero-COVID lockdowns in the country.
This year’s season wrapped up over the weekend in Abu Dhabi after a nearly full calendar of races. The only scheduled race that did not feature was the Shanghai Grand Prix after it was canceled again at the start of the season.
The Chinese race weekend had been penciled in for next April 14-16. “The COVID situation in China remains an issue and it is not certain we will race there in 2023,” Domenicali said. “But we continue to monitor the situation and will keep everyone updated.”
Doubts were also echoed by Chinese F1 driver Zhōu Guānyǔ 周冠宇 earlier this month.
“I think April we’ll have to see (the COVID situation). There is still a good chance that it is happening,” Zhou told reporters before the Brazilian GP. “There is a question mark if it is happening in April or later in the year, we’ll have to see.”
This year, the Shanghai Grand Prix organizers extended the circuit’s contract with F1 until 2025. However, F1 is losing patience with China, and would be comfortable replacing the race with one of the very many race candidates waiting in the wings. The surge of popularity in the sport globally has made hosting a race a far more attractive proposition for countries and circuits.
Yet, F1’s owners are still very keen to see the Chinese Grand Prix return. Zhou, the first-ever Chinese driver on the grid, has the potential to draw more interest to the sport.
The Chinese driver made his debut this year for Alfa Romeo, finishing 10th at Bahrain. The Shanghai native scored six points on the season, finishing 18th out of 22 drivers.
While Zhou has been confirmed as a driver next year, the 23-year-old will need to see significant improvement if he wants to remain an F1 driver in the long run. With only 20 full-time seats available on the grid, Zhou will need to start closing the significant gap between him and his teammate.
The Chinese driver showed flashes of his pace at various points in the year, scoring points in three races, including his debut in Bahrain. However, a number of unlucky retirements in the first half of the season hampered his progress, while in the second half, Zhou struggled to maximize the performance of the car, which has stalled in development.
At Abu Dhabi last weekend, Zhou once again showed his talent by out-qualifying his teammate, Valtteri Bottas, and finishing 12th, three places ahead of the Finn. But Bottas finished the season with 49 points, good for 10th — eight spots ahead of Zhou.
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CBA abandons plans to return to home-and-away format
Despite announcing plans to return the CBA to the regular home-and-away fixtures at the start of the season, organizers have announced that the league will resume once again inside a COVID bubble. The league’s second phase will resume in an empty arena inside the “closed-loop” system.
The games will stay in Zhejiang province, but will move to Zhuji from Hangzhou.
The Zhejiang Golden Bulls currently sit atop the CBA, with a perfect nine-game record. The reigning champions, the Liaoning Flying Leopards, and the Shanxi Loongs follow with a 7-2 record each.
The league has been on a break for Asian FIBA World Cup qualifiers.
China’s national team secured qualification for the 2023 World Cup after defeating Bahrain last week. The team, which has seen significant improvement since its disastrous home World Cup showing in 2019, announced that head coach Dù Fēng 杜锋 would be replaced by Serbia’s Aleksandar Djordjevic.
Despite Du Feng turning his nation’s fortunes around, last Monday’s 80-67 overtime win will be his last. Djordjevic has a stellar resume after coaching Virtus Bologna to the FIBA Champions League and Italian League titles, Fenerbahçe to a Turkish championship, as well as national cup titles with Panathinaikos and Bayern Munich.
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Other Stories:
Dwight Howard Delights NBA Twitter with 38-Point, 25-Rebound Debut in Taiwan (Bleacher Report)
I don't know what's the most shocking/hilarious thing about Dwight Howard's debut in Taiwan.
Almost had a 40/20/10 triple double (38/25/9)
Attempted 32 shots
Made 8 of 12 free throws
Took 10 three-pointers and the crowd cheered every time he attempted one pic.twitter.com/vYyRTsmd77— David Astramskas (@Redapples2021) November 19, 2022
For China’s Paralympic Stars, Retirement Brings a Harsh New Reality (Sixth Tone)
China’s businesses get top billing at World Cup after team flops (Al Jazeera)
WTA Tour announces initial 2023 calendar with no Chinese events (Sports Pro Media)
Chinese man ‘Uncle Chen’ goes viral for running marathon while chain-smoking (Fox Sports)
The China Sports Column runs every week.
