As COVID-19 spread throughout the globe sporting events were cancelled or postponed. Among those sports was Formula 1.
The first race of the season was called off just days before it was set to start following a potential COVID-19 infection. Fans have been eagerly awaiting news about a potential return of the season and today that news came down the wire.
“We are pleased to be able to set out our opening eight race calendar today and look forward to publishing our full calendar in the coming weeks,” said chairman and chief executive officer of Formula 1, Chase Carey.
The season will start at the Red Bull Ring in Austria which will run on the weekend of 3rd July. In fact, the storied track will play host to a second race the next weekend, 10th July.
All eight of the first races will be hosted in European countries and the races announced today are expected to run until September. The tracks which will be featured include Hungaroring, Silverstone, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spa-Francorchamps and Monza.
“Due to the ongoing fluidity of the COVID-19 situation internationally, F1 will be finalising the details of the wider calendar and hope to publish that in the coming weeks with an expectation of having a total of 15-18 races before completing the season in December,” Formula 1 said in a statement.
All of the race events will be closed to fans so you’ll have to watch the races on the telly or stream them via F1 TV.
The organisation goes on to say that Formula 1 and the FIA have strict measures in place to “maintain the highest level of safety with strict procedures in place”.
The full schedule follows on below.
Round | Race | Venue | Date |
Round 1 | Formula 1 Rolex Grosser Preis von Osterreich | The Red Bull Ring, Austria | July 3-5 |
Round 2 | Formula 1 Pirelli Grosser Preis der Steiermark | The Red Bull Ring, Austria | July 10-12 |
Round 3 | Formula 1 Aramco Magyar Nagydij | The Hungaroring, Hungary | July 17-19 |
Round 4 | Formula 1 Pirelli British Grand Prix | Silverstone, UK | July 31 – August 2 |
Round 5 | Emirates Formula 1 70th Anniversary Grand Prix | Silverstone, UK | August 7-9 |
Round 6 | Formula 1 Aramco Gran Premio de Espana | Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spain | August 14-16 |
Round 7 | Formula 1 Rolex Belgian Grand Prix | Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium | August 28-30 |
Round 8 | Formula 1 Gran Premio Heineken d’Italia | Monza, Italy | September 4-6 |
In lieu of real-life races, Formula 1 has been hosting virtual Grand Prix’s most weekends where races were meant to be held.
While it’s not a replacement for actual F1 racing, the Virtual Monaco Grand Prix held a few weekends back made for excellent viewing.
https://youtu.be/OKvt9yoUL5k