Renault has voiced concerns over Formula 1 trying to hold a number of flyaway races in the second half of the 2020 season.
Currently, only an eight-race calendar has been confirmed starting with a triple-header in Austria and Hungary next month up until the Italian Grand Prix on September 6.
Momentum appears to be growing for a second race in Italy a week later at Mugello, where Ferrari would celebrate their 1000th F1 GP, but beyond that, the schedule is very uncertain.
Recent reports suggest the Azerbaijan, Singapore and Japanese GP’s are all set to be officially cancelled in the coming weeks, while two races in the Americas, Austin and Interlagos, are also at risk.
Throw into the mix the financial and travel challenges that come with long-haul races at a time of coronavirus, and Renault’s Cyril Abiteboul wonders if F1 should be considering them at all.
“I guess flyaways are more of a stretch,” he told Motorsport.com.
“We see that long-distance flights are still a bit uncertain, and the difficulty is to find a promoter who is ready to take the economic risk to say ‘I’m going to hold a race in front of an audience that is large enough to absorb the cost of the logistics.’
“That I guess is more the challenge, it’s more of an economic risk than the health and safety risk that there is in Europe.”
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It is for that reason that alternatives like Mugello, Hockenheim, Imola, Portimao and even Jerez are now been mentioned, while second races in Sochi, China and Bahrain are also being speculated.
“We feel that the world is starting to be in a place where racing is possible, and also acceptable,” Abiteboul added.
“We need to think about the image, in particular the way we dealt with Melbourne, and the way we left Melbourne.
“I think the world is ready for that in July, which is great news.
“We just need to see how we can transpose the guidelines of the WHO into the racing environment, which is a bit of a challenge.”
