Ross Brawn says F1 are planning to race during summer break

F1 2020

Ross Brawn says F1 are planning to race during summer break

It is still unclear when the 2020 season will start

Martin Macdonald

Tuesday 17 March 2020 12:00

Ross Brawn has outlined plans for how the 2020 season will look now that the coronavirus outbreak has impacted numerous races, saying the August summer break will be used to hold events.

After a long delay on Thursday, Liberty Media and F1 eventually made the decision to cancel the Australian Grand Prix, which joins the already-cancelled Chinese GP.

Vietnam has followed suit, while Spain and the Netherlands will likely follow as the proposed start date for the season has been pushed back to May.

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Trying to piece together a competitive campaign remains a challenge for F1 management, but Brawn has some ideas as to how it can be achieved.

"Maybe we take a hiatus, we take a pause - and then we use that opportunity to say right, for this time at the beginning of the year we won't have any races, we'll look at relocating those races later in the year," Brawn explained to Sky Sports.

Spanish and Dutch GP events likely to be cancelledRead more

"I think by freeing up the August break, we give ourselves several weekends where we can have a race. And I think we can build a pretty decent calendar for the rest of the year.

"It will look different, but it will still preserve a good number of races, and they're exciting races.

“So, the season's going to start later, but I think it will be just as entertaining."

Despite the sport being in what he describes as “uncharted territory”, he remains confident that a meaningful F1 season can still be realised.

"I'm pretty optimistic that we can have a good 17-18 race championship or more,” he continued.

"I think we can squeeze them in. But it depends on when the season will start."