How a 19-race 2020 Formula 1 season could work

Formula 1

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How a 19-race 2020 Formula 1 season could work

Brutal campaign would include three triple-headers

Ian Parkes

Saturday 11 April 2020 18:53

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Ross Brawn has talked about cramming 19 grands prix into a revamped 2020 Formula 1 calendar.

It is an understandable logistical headache for F1's managing director of motorsports, and it appears almost certain the season would have to stretch into January, as has already been mooted.

GPFans has drawn up a theoretical calendar based on some of the comments Brawn has made of late.

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In particular, Brawn stated that "if we started at the beginning of the July then we could do a 19-race season", which would be "tough" as it would include "three races on, weekend off, three races on, weekend off".

Additionally, Brawn has said that Singapore is virtually impossible to move from its September 20 slot given its infrastructure demands of being a street race run at night, and that China would be a two-day event in order "to get there and get away from it to the next race we are planning".

We also know that Australia and Monaco have been cancelled, so do not come into any revised thinking. If another race is to be cancelled, to drop from the original 22 down to 19, then it is likely to be Vietnam, primarily due to the logistical issues of it being a street race around Hanoi.

Following the cancellation of the Canadian Grand Prix this week, CEO and promoter Francois Dumontier said the latest conceivable date his race could be run would be in October.

Finally, for contractual reasons, Abu Dhabi has to be the last race of a season.

Working on those few clues, this is how GPFans sees a calendar panning out, which includes three triple-headers and five double-headers, and a brutal 17 races across 23 weekends before a Christmas and New Year break, with the season concluding with back-to-back races in the Middle East in January.

July 5: Austria July 12: France July 19: Britain

August 2: Hungary August 9: Spain

August 23: Netherlands August 30: Belgium September 6: Italy

September 20: Singapore September 27: China October 4: Japan

October 18: Canada October 25: USA

November 8: Azerbaijan November 15: Russia November 29: Mexico December 6: Brazil

January 10: Bahrain January 17: Abu Dhabi