Official : F1 announces an 8-races european season from July 5th

Formula 1 has today announced the opening eight races of the 2020 calendar following the postponement of the 2020 FIA Formula 1 World Championship due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The calendar has been approved by the FIA.

The Formula 2 & 3 opening race calendar has also been published alongside this with full details available on the FIA website.

Over the past two months Formula 1 has been working closely with all partners, authorities, the FIA and the ten teams to create a revised calendar that will allow a return to racing in a way that is safe for the communities visited and the entire Formula 1 community. The agreements with promoters have now been completed, meaning the opening 2020 schedule that will begin in Austria on 3-5 July has now been published. Due to the ongoing fluidity of the COVID-19 situation internationally, the details of the wider calendar will be finalised in the coming weeks with an expectation of having a total of 15-18 races before the completion of the season in December.

As stated previously it is currently expected that the opening races will be closed events, but it is hoped fans will be able to join events again when it is safe to do so. The opening calendar will include holding two consecutive events at the same circuit one week apart as well as a number of back to back events. The health and safety of all involved will continue to be priority number one, with the FIA and Formula 1 having a robust and detailed plan to ensure our races maintain the highest level of safety with strict procedures in place.

F1 CEO Chase Carey:

“In the past weeks we have been working tirelessly with all our partners, the FIA and the teams to create a revised opening 2020 calendar allowing us to restart racing in the safest possible way. 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. I want to thank every promoter and partner for their support and ongoing commitment to Formula 1. While we currently expect the season to commence without fans at our races we hope that over the coming months the situation will allow us to welcome them back once it is safe to do, but we know the return of Formula 1 will be a welcome boost to sports fans around the world.”

Following Formula 1’s announcement of their opening eight races of the revised 2020 calendar, FIA Formula 2 and FIA Formula 3 are pleased to confirm that their 2020 season will also start on July 03-05 at the Red Bull Ring and will continue alongside F1 in the succeeding seven rounds.

Both championships were planned to start their 2020 campaign at Sakhir, Bahrain on 20-22 March, but was put on hold due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Since then, F2 and F3 have monitored the situation alongside Formula 1 who has been working closely with promoters, authorities in Europe and the FIA to put in place a revised calendar that allows a return to racing in a safe way for the visited communities and the paddocks.

We currently expect the events will take place without fans, with the hope to have them included in future rounds later this year. The opening calendar will include holding two consecutive events at the same circuit one week apart (Spielberg and Silverstone) as well as a number of back to back events

As stated by F1, the health and safety of all involved will continue to be priority number one. A robust and detailed plan with strict procedures put in place by the FIA and Formula 1 to ensure the events have the highest level of safety will also apply to the F2 and F3 community and paddock.

The rest of the 2020 F2 and F3 calendar will be revealed at a later date.

F2 and F3 CEO Bruno Michel:

“First of all, I would like to thank Formula 1TM and the FIA for making this revised opening calendar possible in such difficult circumstances. I am very pleased to confirm that F2 and F3 will be able to race alongside F1 in the first eight events.

“It is unfortunate that currently we don’t expect fan attendance these opening events, but we are however glad that we are able to bring them the entertainment of our racing in the safest way possible.

“We will also follow the very detailed safety plan put in place by Formula 1 and the FIA as our priority is to make sure no risks are taken.

“Our 2020 season will continue beyond Monza. We will announce the second part of our calendar as soon as possible.”

Date - Venue

03-05 July - Spielberg, Austria

10-12 July - Spielberg, Austria

17-19 July - Budapest, Hungary

31 July – 02 August - Silverstone, Great Britain

07-09 August - Silverstone, Great Britain

14-16 August - Barcelona, Spain

28-30 August - Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium

04-06 September - Monza, Italy