Provisional 2020 F1 calendar discards three main venues

Michael Delaney 14/05/2020 at 17:35

Formula 1's revised 2020 calendar includes 19 races, but Canada, Singapore and Holland are conspicuously absent from the provisional schedule.

The calendar was put together by Motorsport.com based on reliable sources and represents an "ideal" scenario according to Adam Cooper.

It's also a very optimistic view on F1's near-term future which will likely be hard-pressed to establish an agenda of 15 races, let alone 19, which is even one event more than F1 boss Chase Carey's 15 to 18-race projection.

Ditching the Canadian and Singapore Grands Prix isn't really a surprise given the logistical constraints associated with street circuits, not to mention that the latter has been among the hardest hit in Asia by the coronavirus pandemic.

Silverstone and F1 locked in British GP financial standoff

Dutch Grand Prix sporting boss Jan Lammers warned recently that he was no fan of holding a race behind closed gates, so a delay of the event until 2021 seems consistent with the promoter's views.

The three races would join Australia, Monaco and France on F1's "officially cancelled" list.

The conditional schedule kicks off with a double-header in Austria as planned and would conclude in Abu Dhabi on December 13.

Belgium and Hungary appear on the list despite bans on public events that will be in force in both countries at their respective race dates.

Hockenheim is also listed as a possible replacement for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Scheduling events is the easy part for Formula 1 but reaching commercial agreements that make financial sense for the sport and each promoter will be a challenging task.

Most race organisers - like Silverstone - have demanded that Liberty Media assume all costs of putting on a race. But fly-way events are expected to contribute a significantly reduced fee.

Insurance considerations linked to race cancellation triggered by the pandemic are also likely to factor in to the organisers decisions to host or not an event.

"Ideal" provisional 2020 calendar

Jul 5: Austrian GP

Jul 12: Red Bull Ring ‘2’

Jul 26: British GP (or Hockenheim)

Aug 2: Silverstone ‘2’ (or Hockenheim)

Aug 9: Hungarian GP

Aug 23: Spanish GP

Aug 30: Belgian GP

Sep 6: Italian GP

Sep 20: Azerbaijan GP

Sep 27: Russian GP

Oct 4: Chinese GP