Formula 1 is set to announce the Canadian Grand Prix has been rescheduled for October 11, reports said on Tuesday.
The Montreal race was expected to take place just over a week ago in its traditional June slot but was one of the 10 rounds that had to be either cancelled or postponed due to the coronavirus.
However, just last week promoter Francois Dumontier insisted there was still a chance for the GP to take place later this year, and now poleposition.ca and AutoWeek are claiming Canada’s new date will be confirmed next week.
Should that be the case, it would be just the second time F1 has visited Montreal in October, the first coming back in 1978 which is remembered for Gilles Villeneuve’s first victory.
The hope is that fans would be allowed to attend and, as the new date falls on Canada’s thanksgiving weekend, investors are apparently keen to see the race proceed even if they know the economic benefit is less than the usual summer event.
The October date mentioned would be just ahead of the original dates for F1’s three races in the Americas in Austin, Mexico City and Sao Paulo.
As it stands, however, all three rounds are in the uncertain bracket as to whether they will take place due to the Covid-19 outbreaks in the respective countries.
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Alternative venues such as Mugello, Imola, Hockenheim and Portimao have all emerged as viable options, while the poleposition.ca report claims the Russian GP will be confirmed at the same time as the rescheduled Canada race.
Of course, the immediate thought that comes to mind when hearing of an October race in Montreal is the weather, with an average high temperature of just 14C or 57F and rain or even snow more likely than in the summer months.
But as F1 looks to reach a minimum of 15 races in its revised 2020 schedule, the re-inclusion of one of it’s most popular events would certainly be very welcome indeed.