Formula 1 racing is set to return next month with the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring on July 5, followed a week later by another race at the same track.
Next up will be the Hungarian Grand Prix, another double-header but at Silverstone, followed by Spain (Circuit de Catalunya), Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps) and Italy (Monza). F1 and the FIA expect to hold a total of 15-18 races before completing the season in December.
All of these races will be supported by Formula 2 and Formula 3 as well.
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“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,” said F1 Chairman and CEO, Chase Carey. “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.”
“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,” he concluded
The introduction of double-headers is quite intriguing. In a way, it’s a little like playing the same team in the same arena twice in basketball, over a short period of time – which can happen during the NBA Playoffs when every team gets to play two home games back-to-back in a best-of-seven series.
How this will translate to Formula 1, remains to be seen. However, it should give teams the chance to come back better prepared the second time around, having learned from their mistakes.
