Organizers of the Formula 1 World Championships officially confirmed that its launch, which was delayed by the outbreak of the new Corona virus, will be on July 5 in Austria, with the first eight races being held in Europe.
According to the new schedule for the tournament published by the organizers today, Austria will host two consecutive races on the fifth of July and 12 of it, before the Hungary Prize on 19 of it, and two successive races at the British Silverstone circuit on August 2 and 9, Spain on 16 of it, Belgium on 30 of it , Italy, on September 6. These races will be without an audience.
"While we expect the season to start without fans in our races, we hope that the situation in the coming months will allow us to welcome them again when it becomes safe to do so," Chase Carey, CEO of the championship, told a press release.
"But we know that the return of the Formula One will be a boost for sports fans around the world," he added. The 2020 championship was scheduled to start at the Albert Park in the Australian city of Melbourne, before the race was canceled due to "Covid-19". The first ten races that were scheduled in the tournament schedule met the fate of cancellation or postponement to an unspecified date.
The return of the World Championship will be a glimmer of hope for the ten participating teams, some of whom were recently forced to take austerity measures in light of the stalled revenues. The effects of "Covid-19" also prompted the teams to decide to reduce the ceiling of their budgets for the coming years, and to postpone the adoption of extensive amendments to cars and engines.
The organizers of the tournament and the group, "Liberty Media", which owns its rights, hope to save the available season. After the 2020 championship was to be the longest with 22 grand prizes, the organizers acknowledged that the realistic approach presupposes planning for only 15 to 18 races.