In the good news column of this COVID-19 debacle, Formula 1 and the British Grand Prix promoters have agreed to a two-race deal likely to be held on July 26 and August 2. Of course governmental regulations and approvals will be needed but as Belgium just approved the race at Spa Francorchamps for August, let us hope this is quick in coming.
Silverstone boss Stuart Pringle told Autosport:
“I am delighted to confirm that Silverstone and F1 have reached an agreement in principle to host two races behind closed doors this summer.
“However these races will be subject to Government approval, as our priority is the safety of all involved and strict compliance with COVID-19 regulations.
“I would like to thank all our fans who have been so supportive throughout this and to assure them we are determined to do all we can to help F1 put on a show this summer.”
While F1 has yet to confirm the agreement or any details, the provisional calendar is said to be close to complete for this compressed 2020 season. Multiple race weekends at certain tracks and the desire to begin with out crowds are all features of this new calendar.
Hat Tip: Autosport
This is probably a good way to recover most of the season. Let’s just hope that (A) Silverstone’s up to the challenge, and (B) the UK government doesn’t get in the way.
I can see more of these double-header races filling out the 2020 season but I don’t believe the series or the teams will travel beyond Europe or the Persian Gulf states. And I wanted to go to the USGP this year, too.
Unfortunately, with only one weekend off between the planned Austrian double header and the first Silverstone race, it doesn’t give the team’s enough time to comply with the UK’s fourteen day quarantine period for all arrivals into the country.
A similar requirement into the EU will also delay any subsequent race in Europe.
Such rules will also severely impact any team’s ability to return to base between races (and the cars are not designed to run for an entire season without regular maintenance/replacement of life’s components.
Yeah, though FOM and promoters have spoken of hopeful dates on when things could resume, none of it is set as an FIA calendar yet so I think a fair bit of flexibility to come on that to work around the 14 day quarantines which will be across most of Europe and probably the UK if the government ever bothers to do it. It will undoubtedly ruin the idea of how many races Carey etc have spoken about in this year as simply time with those restrictions won’t be on their side during 2020 unless they were to go into… Read more »
It’s not just the travel between races that we need to worry about, it’s the ability of the teams to return to the factory between races that needs to be considered. With nine out of the ten teams based in two of the worst affected countries in Europe, there is also the worry that some other countries may not welcome travellers coming from these locations. It’s all very well stating that F1 will travel in a bubble around the world (1000 – 1500 people), but there are many locals (marshals, doctors, officials etc) that are required at each location to… Read more »
Agreed, are a million and one issues, but I do think its possible at a cautiously pessimistic outlook to have at least a few races in Austria, Britain and maybe somewhere else as governments seem reasonably willing to make that happen which allows the series to focus more on issues related to how it runs, Motorsport UK released a lot of documentation the last few days on circuit racing regulations related to a resumption. I don’t think as I said we’ll see this 16 races or whatever pie in the sky thinking F1 wants for many of the reasons you… Read more »