F1 has confirmed that the Russian Grand Prix, originally scheduled to be held in Sochi this season, will not be replaced, but will be cancelled directly, which means that the 2022 schedule will remain at 22 games.
Earlier this year, the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict meant that Sochi was no longer a viable place to host F1 competitions, so the competition was cancelled. There have been rumors that there will be another game to replace it, with senior F1 officials who had previously hoped to add one game to the replacement from September 23 to 25.
Recently there have been rumors that there may be two consecutive games in Singapore this year or a second match back to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, but F1 has now chosen to cancel it directly. The removal of Sochi from the schedule means that it has changed from the original three-game (Russian-Singapore-Japan) to two-game (Singapore-Japan).
When the news first confirmed that Sochi will be removed from the schedule, the initial suggestion was to host the Turkish Grand Prix for the third consecutive time. In addition to the Istanbul Park Circuit, other tracks that became substitutes during the epidemic in 2020 and 2021 include Mugero, Nürburgring and Portimão, but these three tracks will challenge the logistics of F1.
