F1 2021: Don't expect Turkey to be in the new Formula 1 game

The Formula 1 season is hitting its stride as the first back-to-back races approach. It is also still very much at the mercy of outside events though, as the latest calendar change proves.

For the second year in a row, F1 will not be visiting the awesome Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. And the calendar change has led to a lot of questions about F1 2021.

Canada out, Turkey in

As expected by many, the first race of the season to cross the pond and head to the Americas has been called off.

The Canadian Grand Prix, a true fan-favourite thanks to an overtaking-friendly circuit and the chance of wild weather, will not be run this season.

Instead though, another wonderful track will take its place, Istanbul Park in Turkey. After serving as a replacement race and providing great entertainment last season, the track is back again.

The change has left gamers wondering if Codemasters will be able to get the new circuit into F1 2021. But the answer isn't a good one for many.

Don't hold your breath

Over the last 12 months and beyond, Codemasters has been scrambling to try and adapt the official Formula 1 game to the ever-changing real world situation.

Last year they announced the game and showed it all off, only for the season to be postponed and then see half the grid change their liveries and sponsors. Then a whole slate of new, and old, circuits were used and fans demanded to know if they would be in F1 2020 too.

While the livery changes were quickly accommodated, the tracks were another story. It takes a huge amount of hours to create a new track in the F1 game. We got to race the season as originally planned, and that worked for us.

This year though, Imola, Portimao, and the new Jeddah circuit were late additions to the official calendar and Codemasters has confirmed they will be arriving in F1 2021 as post-launch content. Which is amazing! We will have all the tracks from the previous game and a few more.

But we are VERY unlikely to ever get Istanbul Park in F1 2021. It simply takes too long to develop a new circuit.

With three tracks already being built by Codemasters, along with new features like Braking Point and a co-op career mode, expecting another track to be thrown in so late is wishful thinking.

Of course, we would be thrilled if it Codies came out and said they were adding it. We just aren't going to hold our breath waiting for that day.

F1 2021 release date

F1 2021 has an official release date of 16 July.

Fans can get three days early access, along with 18,000 PitCoins and more with the Deluxe Edition!