Following a three-month delay, the 2020 Formula 1 season will begin this weekend in Austria with another round in the same venue one week later.
So far, only six venues–all in Europe–will host races this season. The season delay began soon after a McLaren team member tested for COVID-19 in March just hours before the first practice was to take place in Melbourne, Australia. Since that fateful day, circuits in France, Monaco, The Netherlands, Singapore, Azerbaijan, and Japan have canceled 2020 F1 races.
The Formula One Management (F.O.M.) is searching for more sites to host Grand Prix races to get the maximum that the organizers want for the 2020 season–16 races.
The current schedule has Austria this week and the next, followed by Hungary a week later. A week-long break follows with Great Britain taking the next two weeks early in August, followed by Spain, Belgium, and Italy–all races that would have been on the regular schedule even if the pandemic had not occurred.
The big difference this year is that all the races will have one thing missing–fans.
On the technical side, with none of the teams having used their upgrades, it will be interesting to observe the cars when they enter the trace for Friday’s first practice session. Renault is introducing three upgrades that it hopes will give that team an advantage. Other teams–save Ferrari–will also bring improvements to Austria. Ferrari will bring improvements to Hungary.
With so much time off, the big question is how the competition will proceed. Will Red Bull (home standing in Austria) challenge Mercedes? Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton, who’s looking for his seventh and record-tying title, predicted that Friday’s practice could be “quite messy.”
The good news is that it’s racing time again! It’s Austria. And drivers are ready to go at long last.
