F1 has announced the opening eight races of the 2020 calendar following the postponement of the 2020 FIA Formula 1 World Championship due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Over the past two months Formula 1 has been working closely with all partners, authorities, the FIA and the ten teams to create a revised calendar that will allow a return to racing in a way that is safe for the communities the sport visits and the entire Formula 1 community. F1 has now completed the agreements with the promoters, and published the opening 2020 schedule that will begin in Austria on 3-5 July. Due to the ongoing fluidity of the COVID-19 situation internationally, F1 will be finalising the details of the wider calendar and hopes to publish that in the coming weeks with an expectation of having a total of 15-18 races before the end of the season in December.
As stated previously Liberty Media currently expects the opening races to be closed events but hope fans will be able to join our events again when it is safe to do so. The opening calendar will include holding two consecutive events at the same circuit one week apart as well as a number of back to back events. The health and safety of all involved will continue to be priority number one, with Formula 1 and the FIA having a robust and detailed plan to ensure our races maintain the highest level of safety with strict procedures in place.
The revised opening 2020 calendar is as follows:
Chase Carey, Chairman and CEO of Formula 1, said:
“In the past weeks we have been working tirelessly with all our partners, the FIA and the teams to create a revised opening 2020 calendar allowing us to restart racing in the safest possible way. We are pleased to be able to set out our opening eight race calendar today and look forward to publishing our full calendar in the coming weeks. I want to thank every promoter and partner for their support and ongoing commitment to Formula 1. While we currently expect the season to commence without fans at our races we hope that over the coming months the situation will allow us to welcome them back once it is safe to do, but we know the return of Formula 1 will be a welcome boost to sports fans around the world.”
