2020, the never-ending season
Liberty Media confirmed what everyone knew: the 2020 schedule will be the longest in F1 history, with 22 races planned. This will further increase revenues but also the demands on the teams.
A new milestone is reached: after three seasons with 21 races (2016, 2018, and 2019), a new record will be set in 2020 with a calendar of 22 Grand Prix. The official confirmation of the extension of Barcelona earlier this week paved the way for such an eventuality, which has now been confirmed by Liberty Media.
The season will therefore be extremely packed as it will start on March 15, still in Australia, and conclude under the lights of Abu Dhabi on November 29. Consequently, to fit all the events in, many back-to-back races need to be organized. The first will be the Australia-Bahrain sequence. This allows Vietnam to stand alone for the category’s first appearance in the Southeast Asian country.
The Netherlands will not benefit from this isolation since the Zandvoort race will be followed just one week later by the Barcelona race, which will likely be its last edition. However, the entire paddock will have to pull off a logistical feat to successfully transition between Baku and Montreal. It’s hard to imagine two more challenging events to connect. But when all these travels are made by private jet, the challenge might seem less daunting… The race in Azerbaijan will once again directly clash with the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The other sequences will be more traditional with France-Austria, Belgium-Italy, Singapore-Sochi, and Austin-Mexico.
In total, there will be 10 races in Europe, seven in Asia, four in America, and one in Oceania. Africa remains the only continent ignored by a discipline that claims to attract 500 million viewers worldwide. Chase Carey, the director of Liberty Media, stated: « The season with a record of 22 Grand Prix has received unanimous support from the FIA and all teams. This clearly demonstrates the confidence that exists in the future of our sport, which with 500 million viewers remains one of the most followed and popular in the world. »
The only date still to be confirmed is that of Monza, but it is now almost certain that Italy will keep its event. Only the signature is missing at the bottom of the contract. Without a doubt, next week’s trip to Italy should be an opportunity for a nice family photo to celebrate a new extension.
March 15 Australia (Melbourne)
March 22 Bahrain (Sakhir)
April 5 Vietnam (Hanoi)
April 19, China (Shanghai)
May 3, Netherlands (Zandvoort)
May 10, Spain (Barcelona)
May 24 Monaco
June 7 Azerbaijan (Baku)
June 14 Canada (Montreal)
June 28 France (Le Castellet)
July 5 Austria (Spielberg)
July 19 Great Britain (Silverstone)
August 2, Hungary (Budapest)
August 30 Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps)
September 6 Italy (Monza)
September 20 Singapore
September 27, Russia (Sochi)
October 11 Japan (Suzuka)
October 25 United States (Austin)
November 1 Mexico
November 15, Brazil (Sao Paulo)
November 29 Abu Dhabi
From our special correspondent at Spa-Francorchamps
