Former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone believes the financial strain caused by COVID-19 could force Haas to leave the sport for good. Furthermore, the 89-year-old feels Formula 1 should cancel the 2020 championship and season altogether. The extended shutdown and a lack of running hurts the smaller teams the most.

Ecclestone predicts Haas F1 exit

Gene Haas said the team’s future would be decided within the first few races of the season. Unfortunately, Coronavirus has resulted in F1 cancelling or postponing 8 races in 2020. The Canadian Grand Prix in July now stands as the tentative start to the season. However, many experts believe the season won’t begin until August or September at the earliest.

Should the situation fail to improve at all, we could so no races at all this year. That would be a major blow financially as teams have sponsorship agreements in place which only hold up if teams compete in races. Will the lack of running be the straw that breaks the camel’s back?

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Ecclestone thinks so and believes Haas may walk away at the end of this year. Speaking to BBC 5 Live, Bernie said:

“They were thinking of stopping anyway, so it may be something that tips them over the hill”

Haas F1 had a mediocre 2019 and only scored a handful of points. A fundamental flaw in the VF19 meant the American team had an unpredictable car at every race of the season. 2020 could very well be the team’s final season in F1, if a season does happen.

Bernie calls for F1 to cancel 2020 season

Ecclestone also believes F1 should drop the idea of a 2020 season and consider scrapping the championship.

“We should stop the championship this year and start again next year, hopefully, because I can’t see it’s going to be possible to get the right amount of races in that count for a championship,”

F1 needs to hold 8 races for a legitimate World Championship which is doable if the season resumes at a convenient time. However, if the sport cancels or postpones even more races, we could end up without a Championship campaign.

Bernie doesn’t see F1 getting to eight races.

“There’s got to be eight from memory, and I can’t see them getting that in. It’s a difficult situation,” said Ecclestone.