F1 set to reveal more detail about 2020 season start plans

Formula 1 is expected to reveal further detail about its plans to get the 2020 season underway.

After the opening 10 races of the original 2020 schedule were called off due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, F1 championship officials have been working on plans to get the season off the ground with a series of behind closed doors races in Europe.

F1 has already identified Austria as the venue for its season-opener on July 5 and is hoping to stage two races on consecutive weekends at the Red Bull Ring, before heading to Great Britain for another double header at Silverstone.

The British Grand Prix venue confirmed last week that it has agreed a deal with F1 to stage two races without spectators on July 26 and August 2, though Silverstone boss Stuart Pringle has reiterated that its plans still require government approval and stressed there is a chance they may not happen.

“We’re still getting our head around it,” Pringle told Sky F1. “There is work taking place, and it will do right up until the delivery.

“Let me stress again this is all entirely subject to the government giving it the green light, so that may be a reason why these [races] do not happen.

“However, if the situation evolves in line with the roadmap that the government unveiled at the beginning of the week, then it looks like it should be possible, and we are working with them and with all the relevant authorities to make sure that we can comply.”

To comply with national travel and social distancing measures, F1 has unveiled a strict plan to create a “biosphere” environment during race weekends, where paddock personnel will be kept apart as much as possible and tested for coronavirus every 48 hours.

An impending 14-day quarantine period which is set to be enforced by the government on international travellers arriving into the UK could scupper the championship’s plan, though F1 is seeking exemption from the restrictions.

According to Sky, the sport’s officials have outlined their representatives to the most senior levels of government, including directly to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Pringle acknowledged that a number of major hurdles remain for F1 to get the delayed 2020 season started, and not just involving travel arrangements to get to Silverstone.

“F1 are looking to introduce a very rigorous and extensive testing regime to enable them to take their championship around the world,” he explained.

“Yes, we have had to do quite a lot of planning on the hoof to see whether it’s possible. It will look very different to how we normally run an F1 event.

“So there do need to be robust solutions and solutions that need to meet not just the requirements of this country, but also other countries in the championship, because there won’t be a championship if the only place that F1 can run is Great Britain.

“There needs to be a holistic solution that works for the thing as a whole. I know there’s a huge amount of work going into that, I know there’s a lot of desire on everybody’s part to find a workable solution, and there is a little bit of time still. I have hopes that those solutions will be found.”

F1’s blueprint includes holding a series of behind closed doors races in Europe across the summer months followed by events Asia and the Americas, before finishing the campaign in the Middle East with Bahrain and Abu Dhabi forming the final races of the season in December. It remains hopeful of staging between 15 and 18 races before the end of the year.

The European section of the revised calendar is expected to be made clearer this week, with the opening four races in Austria and Silverstone likely to followed by rounds in Hungary, Spain, Belgian, Italy and Azerbaijan.

Hockenheim is understood to be on standby to step in if required after holding talks with F1 about staging a race despite the German Grand Prix venue not being on the original 2020 schedule.

The Dutch, Canadian and Singapore grands prix are all expected to to be officially called off, adding to the three already-cancelled events in Australia, Monaco and France.