Formula 1’s revised 2020 calendar could feature circuits not previously scheduled to host races this year after CEO Chase Carey confirmed talks.
With the postponement of seven races and the cancellation of three, F1 bosses are frantically trying to put together a new schedule which they hope will consist of between 15-18 events.
Currently, the championship is expected to start in Austria with two rounds on July 5 & 12 and will stay in Europe until September before gradually heading East to Asia, jumping across to the Americas and then concluding in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, the latter tentatively planned for December 13.
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Of course, all of that will be dependent on how the coronavirus situation develops in the coming months and Carey insists the sport is making plans for every eventuality, including “the remote possibility of no racing in 2020”.
However: “We’ve been working tirelessly since Australia and we’re actively engaged with our promoters in putting together a 2020 race calendar,” he told investors on Thursday after Liberty Media reported an 84 per cent drop in revenue for F1 in the first three months of the year.
“We have two primary challenges – identifying locations where we can hold the race, and determining how we transport all necessary parties and their equipment to that location for a race.
“We’re in discussion with all of our promoters, as well as some tracks that are not currently on our 2020 calendar, to make sure we explore all options.”
So far, Imola, Hockenheim and Portimao in Portugal are all circuits who have publicly offered to hold events, while Sepang has also suggested they might consider an F1 return if the offer was right.
Should there be any new race postponements when the season gets underway, F1 is also prepared to push the conclusion date back into early next year.
“We’re obviously going to take a fairly long break through the holidays, you’re not going to race in the holiday weeks,” Carey noted.
“But it is an option available to us that we again have to work through with our promoters and an array of parties to get there, but it is something we’ve considered and talked about.
“I would say that our goal is to finish a couple of weeks later than our original date, but to finish in mid-December, ahead of the holidays.”
