It’s back! On Tuesday, Formula 1 announced the first half of its 2020 calendar, which will commence on July 5 at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria.
Along with Great Britain, Austria will host races on back-to-back weekends. Austria’s second race–the Steiermark Grand Prix–will be held on July 12 at the same circuit. Great Britain will hold two races at the famed Silverstone circuit–on August 2 and 9th–to commemorate the sport’s 70th anniversary. F1’s first race was run at Silverstone.
But the races there in 2020 would have been canceled had it not been for a last-minute deal between government and F1. Negotiation was necessary because of Great Britain’s policy that anyone coming into the country has to be quarantined for 14 days. If followed, that would have disabled the races.
F1’s Chase Carey (photo, Autosport)
With that matter handled, an exuberant Chase Carey said: “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.”
For precautions, F1 teams will be limited to 80 personal each, and they will be kept apart from one another to limit COVID-19 transmission. Paddock staff will be tested before departure from the factory and at the circuit. In addition, all participants will be flown on chartered jets and stay at blocked-booked hotels located at a short distance from the circuit.
As for the media, coverage will be handled by a maximum of 60 representatives, which is a far cry from the typical number of 200+ who cover events regularly.
Here is the first half of the schedule:
• July 3-5: Austrian Grand Prix, Red Bull Ring, Austria
• July 10-12: Steiermark Grand Prix, Red Bull Ring, Austria
• July 17-19: Hungarian Grand Prix, Hungaroring, Hungary
• July 31-Aug. 2: British Grand Prix, Silverstone, Great Britain
• Aug. 7-9: Formula One 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, Silverstone, Great Britain
• Aug. 14-16: Spanish Grand Prix, Circuit de Catalunya, Spain
• Aug. 28-30: Belgian Grand Prix, Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
• Sept. 4-6: Italian Grand Prix, Monza, Italy
The rest of the schedule, which F1 hopes to release soon, will include races in Asia, North America, and in Gulf countries, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, specifically. All races will include Formula 2 and 3 races.
