Turkey set for F1 return on final 17-race 2020 calendar

A return to Turkey’s Istanbul Park is set to take place this year with Formula 1 expected to confirm a 17-race calendar for the 2020 season.

Istanbul has not hosted F1 racing since the 2011 Turkish Grand Prix, but the race is set to be revived to help complete the revised 2020 schedule following the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Turkey is set to fill the gap created by F1 being forced to abandon its plans to race in the Americas and Asia, pending a new deal being agreed.

The Turkish Grand Prix is understood to follow two weeks after the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola on 15 November.

It will help conclude the delayed 2020 season, before a final triple-header of events takes place, comprising of back-to-back races in Bahrain before the planned Abu Dhabi finale in mid-December.

As previously reported, F1 is considering running the second Bahrain round on a different configuration of the Sakhir International Circuit.

The positioning of a return to Turkey on the calendar makes logistical sense for F1 teams, as freight can be flown to Istanbul en route to the destination for the final three races of the season in the Middle East.

F1 had hoped to hold races in China and Vietnam but both events will now be shelved, meaning the Inaugural grand prix in Hanoi will have to wait until 2021, joining the revised Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort in being postponed by a year.

The final 17-round total will meet the 15-18 race target set out by F1 boss Chase Carey back in May.

The last Turkish Grand Prix was won by then Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel. Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen and Sergio Perez are the only drivers in the current F1 field who have taken part in a grand prix at Istanbul.

Red Bull’s Alex Albon said he was relishing the prospect of heading to Turkey in modern F1 machinery when the subject was brought up during the Spanish Grand Prix last weekend.

“It looks really cool, I’m excited,” he said.

“I think Liberty and Formula 1 are doing an amazing job choosing these kind of circuits. I don’t know if it’s coincidence or if they’re just choosing them because they’re the ones that are open to races. But it’s going to be a proper circuit.

“Mugello, Imola, Turkey, we’re going to some of the best circuits in the world. I’m all for it.”