For Formula One, COVID-19 means less is more in 2020; drivers to take part in virtual races

It was supposed to be a record 22-race world championship but with seven Grand Prix’s already either postponed or cancelled, Formula One in 2020 has become a shorter, tightly-packed and economically challenging sprint for the title.

The season-opener in Australia and F1’s iconic Riviera showpiece in Monaco have been axed.

Races in Bahrain, Vietnam, China, Netherlands and Spain have also been shelved but with organisers still hoping to shoehorn them into a breathless finale once the threat of the coronavirus had subsided.

A season which should have started in Melbourne on March 14 will now not start until Azerbaijan on June 7 — at the earliest.

“It’s super complicated to redo a calendar because you don’t know when everything will be operational,” Frederic Vasseur, the team principal of the Alfa Romeo F1 team, told AFP.

“You need to have a global vision. England is not too affected at the moment but it could be when Italy is less affected,” he added in reference to the two countries which play host to most of the teams in the world championship.

There are still 15 races left on the schedule before the concluding race at Abu Dhabi on November 29.

Last weekend, Ross Brawn, the sporting director of F1, said he was optimistic of a “17-18 race” championship.

However, that was when only Australia, Bahrain, Vietnam and China had been dropped.

On Thursday, the Dutch Grand Prix, slated to make its return to the calendar for the first time since 1985 on May 3, and the Spanish event, set for May 10, were postponed.

The Monaco GP, an annual showstopper since 1955 and set for May 24 this year, was cancelled completely.

“We are in unchartered territory. I’m pretty optimistic that we can have a good 17-18 race championship or more,” Brawn told Sky Sports.

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

There is wriggle room.

The traditional three-week summer shutdown in August has been scrapped to be replaced by a 21-day break in March and April while the racing season hunkers down.

The championship now becomes a frantic six-month sprint rather than a nine-month marathon.

To rescue the calendar, there is an option of two races organised on the same weekend.

“It’s possible,” said Brawn, eyeing the three weeks between the Hungarian Grand Prix on Aug.2 and at Spa in Belgium on Aug.30.

“One thing we have also been talking about is two-day weekends, and therefore if we have a triple header with two-day weekends, that could be an option.”

Meanwhile, Formula One’s drivers will battle it out in an Esports Virtual Grand Prix series in a bid to give fans their racing fix while the season is delayed by the coronavirus.

Formula One chiefs are aiming to start racing in Azerbaijan, but to fill the void for now the sport has asked current F1 drivers to play a racing game featuring as-yet unnamed celebrity guests.

“Featuring a number of current F1 drivers, the series has been created to enable fans to continue watching Formula 1 races virtually, despite the ongoing COVID-19 situation that has affected this season’s opening race calendar,” a statement said.

“The first race of the series will see current F1 drivers line up on the grid alongside a host of stars to be announced in due course.

“In order to guarantee the participants safety at this time, each driver will join the race remotely.”

F1 drivers Max Verstappen and Lando Norris took part in two separate virtual races last weekend following the cancellation of the Australian Grand Prix.

The races will be run for 28 laps for around 90 minutes and will take place at the same time as the postponed Grands Prix would have occurred.

Agence France-Presse