So what will F1 teams do this year?

[geogate]

I think there will be races behind closed doors, but they will be the state supported events - Bahrain, Abu Dhabi etc. They will have to be circuits where there is flexibility in scheduling

[AMG.Tzan]

That's what they'll do! Another showcase of awful decisions if they manage to hold the 2021 cars back to 2022!
No need to get on with the 2020 season if we can't! Just try to race in as many venues as possible until December 10-15th wherever we can and then go ahead with 2021! I am hopeful that the corona virus situation will get better mid to end of summer!

My opinion is also to use the August summer break to reschedule some races...Zandvoort for example...no way we can lose Zandvoort this year! Also i won't be angry if we lost Paul Ricard in place for another race! Also if can get Bahrain in Vietnam's place it will be nice...since they said they won't race until March 29th!

[Lotus102]

That's what they'll do! Another showcase of awful decisions if they manage to hold the 2021 cars back to 2022!
No need to get on with the 2020 season if we can't! Just try to race in as many venues as possible until December 10-15th wherever we can and then go ahead with 2021! I am hopeful that the corona virus situation will get better mid to end of summer!

That’s overoptimistic IMO. The virus could be with us for a couple of years. F1 has already messed up through underestimating the seriousness of the situation, and planning for things to be more or less back to normal by the summer could just mean that a load more plans just have to be ditched. It might lead to fewer races, not more, as you could run into last minute cancellations again. I suspect sponsors, having paid up on the expectation of a full ‘2020 season’ would not be happy with F1 partially ditching this year in order to keep next year as normal. And something is going to have to be done to help the teams keep costs down, delaying the introduction of a new set of regs is an excellent way to do that

[geogate]

I agree that praying to your god of choice that things will be better in a few months isnt a particularly impressive tactic, but it is so F1, so is probably what will happen

[Xwang]

Are next year technical and sporting rules definitive or could they still change? In the latter case it could be risk to invest too much time and then have t start again because the rules change.
Moreover, Is F1/FIA going to move the August break to March or April?

[izzy]

I think there will be races behind closed doors, but they will be the state supported events - Bahrain, Abu Dhabi etc. They will have to be circuits where there is flexibility in scheduling

yes it depends if Liberty are hoping to still get a race fee, for an event with no spectators! Perhaps they could be, or just concentrating on their TV partners and sponsors and teams

anyway they need some fresh thinking about the whole thing don't they. Let's hope they come up with some racing, reasonably soon. Silverstone in April, could be damp and exciting, or a racetrack on an island...

[Just_a_fan]

Silverstone in April, could be damp and exciting, or a racetrack on an island...

Why move Silverstone forward to April? If they're lucky it could be dry. But more likely it'd be coldish and damp/wet.

I doubt the circuit's owners would want to run it behind closed doors. That would be a big loss of revenue unless FIA/FOM/Liberty are going to waive the hosting fees for the year. Indeed, Silverstone couldn't afford to run the race without the 125,000 crowd and the money they represent.

[Wouter]

No races at least until the end of May.

[izzy]

Silverstone in April, could be damp and exciting, or a racetrack on an island...

Why move Silverstone forward to April? If they're lucky it could be dry. But more likely it'd be coldish and damp/wet.

I doubt the circuit's owners would want to run it behind closed doors. That would be a big loss of revenue unless FIA/FOM/Liberty are going to waive the hosting fees for the year. Indeed, Silverstone couldn't afford to run the race without the 125,000 crowd and the money they represent.

i was think of an extra Silverstone, and if we're not there it won't matter being cold and wet will it?

yes it'd have to be free for them, at least

[Fulcrum]

The mandated summer break will be brought forward. Thereafter, it depends on the evolution of the pandemic.

[geogate]

a mate from one the teams tells me their factory put on shifts, one week on one week off for the foreseeable future

[NL_Fer]

What else are they going to do? All the money spent on this year's cars have essentially been wasted. I can't see any racing for the forseeable future. Forget about F1 for the next 4 months at the absolute least.

Sort of 20-21 season

[Jolle]

Most of the small teams will have to fight to stay afloat I guess. Hundreds of people who need to get paid each month. Good chance that teams like Williams will have to let a whole bunch of people go for the coming months to cut costs

[Just_a_fan]

Most of the small teams will have to fight to stay afloat I guess. Hundreds of people who need to get paid each month. Good chance that teams like Williams will have to let a whole bunch of people go for the coming months to cut costs

Why? They don't get paid to turn up at each race. They get money from sponsors and they get end-of-season reward for their place in the constructors' championship.

I would be very surprised if a sponsor decided to pull out of a deal on the back of the current international medical situation. That wouldn't be good PR at all, would it?

So why will Williams suddenly be laying people off?

[holeindalip]

On the other hand, Honda, while they felt they had to withdraw last time, also felt it was a defeat; added to that the difficult McLaren years and them only now feeling competent and capable of being competitive, they have something to prove both on the race track and off it.

They've proven they can produce a race winning PU. A championship would be nice, but it's not as bad as the noughties

Mercedes is in a different situation, but to be seen to abandon a series over something like this, I don't think that would be a great PR image for them either.

It's not abandonment, it's a logical business decision. HPP could still supply PU's, if the series still exists...

Red Bull, well, they might, but it would still look like throwing toys out of the pram as they can clearly afford it; I don't think that they would go.

I disagree. The fact they can't market their product isn't their fault.

Clearly, we will have to see how the year goes, and it might be very tough for quite a few teams...

No races = no marketing. ROI for sponsors has a definitive answer for the first time ever, it's zero. This is bad.
Prize money is based on income. Let's just assume they run the minimum number of races for a WDC/WCC, so, 8. I'm guessing that's somewhere in the realm of 40% of projected income...

CFD stuff can be done from home, I suspect; and with presumably less testing, it will be freed up a bit - might very well be redirected to 2021.

Another reason to defer the rule change to 2022. It's not fair for the small teams.

deferring the rule change to 2022 would be even worse, you would give the big 3 two years to work on those cars before even hitting the track