Formula One Eyes a Prospective Date to Commence the 2020 Season

With the coronavirus pandemic raging through the entire world, the 2020 Formula One season is on ice. However, F1 is confident that the latest date is the month of October. Admittedly, F1 needs to host a minimum of eight races to still be considered a world championship.

According to F1 motorsports director Ross Brawn in an interview with Sky Sports this may be a possibility. He hopes that Formula One could commence during the summer months, only then will a 19-race season be possible to pull off.

He said, “There is always the possibility we could run into next year. That’s being explored. Can we stray into January to finish the season? There are all sorts of complications, as you can imagine, with that.”

“If we were able to start at the beginning of July, we could do a 19-race season. (It would be) tough—three races on, one weekend off, three races on, one weekend off. We have looked at all the logistics, and we think we can hold an 18- to 19-race season if we can get started at the beginning of July. The choice is between those two numbers.”

The latest race to face the postponement axe is the 2020 Canadian Grand Prix. This leaves nine out of 22 races postponed or outright canceled. Among the victims is the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix, and this is the first time Monaco will be absent since 1954.

How is Formula One going to tackle the whole situation?

To make up for the tight schedule, Formula One may resort to two-day race weekends. The FIA is also considering closed door events. Brawn noted that travel is going to be one of the biggest hurdles, especially for the teams and drivers because of the enormous freight.

The Briton hopes that if the season does get underway, it will be in Europe for the sake of the teams’ convenience. He even suggested having an enclosed environment, teams could charter private vehicles to the circuit.

He concluded, “We’re looking at the organizational structure which would give us the earliest start. But also the ability to maintain that start. There’s no point having a start and then stopping again for a while. It’s most likely to be in Europe. It’s conceivable that it could be a closed event.”