Ex-Formula 1 driver turned commentator Martin Brundle, still expects a solid calendar of 16 or 17 races in 2020.
On Thursday, it was confirmed the first seven events of the year have either been postponed or cancelled, with the Monaco Grand Prix now not part of the F1 schedule for the first time since 1954.
Currently, the Azerbaijan GP in Baku is the defacto first race, set to go ahead on June 7, and should that be the case, Brundle is sure F1 bosses will stack the races up.
“It looks to me, just my opinion, it looks like April and May are a complete write-off for everybody, everywhere in this part of the world,” Brundle told Sky Sports News before the announcements confirming as such on Thursday.
“So the championship, for what it’s worth, needs a minimum of eight races, maximum of 22 this year, which is clearly not going to happen.
“I think if we do get up and running I could easily see 16 or 17 races, just coming thick and fast, triple-headers, quadruple-headers, maybe one week off and then go again.”
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It has been suggested, that the first few races could take place behind closed doors to try and get the season started but keep the risk from the coronavirus low.
However, Brundle doesn’t think F1 could afford to do so.
“They’ll shorten the weekend, maybe, just to two days rather than three,” he suggested.
“The thought of great circuits like Silverstone, running a race but having no crowd, they just can’t do that, they’ll go broke frankly. So we need to wait until we can get a crowd and do this properly.
“But I do think there’s a chance we could have a representative Formula 1 season and remember, back in Sir Stirling Moss’ day and [Juan Manuel] Fangio’s day, there were seven or eight [races] in a championship.
“In my day, with Michael Schumacher in it and [Ayrton] Senna, we had 15 or 16 races and nobody feels any less impressed by those great champions of those days for having less races in a season.”
Following a video conference between F1, the FIA and team bosses on Thursday, F1 CEO Chase Carey also revealed teams had helped efforts to replan the season by waiving a key requirement.
“At the meeting, there was full support for the plans to reschedule as many of the postponed races as possible as soon as it is safe to do so,” he said.
“Formula 1 and the FIA will now work to finalise a revised 2020 calendar and will consult with the teams, but as agreed at the meeting the revised calendar will not require their formal approval.
“This will give us the necessary flexibility to agree revised timings with affected race promoters and to be ready to start racing at the right moment.”
Typically, any changes to the calendar in the year it is due to take place would require all 10 teams to support them.
