New F1 schedule for 2020 season includes up to 18 races from July

Revised plan: F1 is targeting up to 18 races in a reschedule 2020 campaign
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Tom Dutton27 April 2020

Formula 1 bosses are drawing up an alternative schedule for the 2020 season which will include up to 18 races.

The coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc with the F1 calendar, with 10 of 22 races now postponed or cancelled.

The Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring on July 5 is being earmarked as a potential season-opener, with the British Grand Prix set to go ahead without spectators a fortnight later.

Organisers hope that will mark the start of a reshuffled season which begins in Europe and ends a little later than scheduled in the Middle East.

A post on the official F1 Twitter account said: "A potential start date for the season.

"Formula 1 is targeting a 15-18 race season, beginning in Austria on the weekend of July 3-5."

The revised calendar proposes races take plane in Europe and Asia between July and October without a summer break, while circuits in Asia and the Americas have been pencilled in for grands prix in October and November.

The season would then conclude in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi in December.

It is unclear at this stage whether events which were initially cancelled (Australian, Monaco and French Grands Prix) would be allocated a new spot on the amended programme.

There remains a possibility that Silverstone will stage more than one this season, though fans will not be allowed to attend.

Silverstone managing director Stuart Pringle told Sky Sports: “The majority of the teams are within a stone’s throw of the circuit, so operationally it would be pretty straightforward."

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