Brawn admits new venues are possible
New venues could join the heavily-revised 2020 F1 calendar in the second half of this year’s delayed championship, Formula One motorsport boss Ross Brawn has amitted.
At the beginning of June, Formula One announced the first eight rounds of the disrupted 2020 championship. The opening phase of the calendar includes six different locations with the Red Bull Ring and the Silverstone circuit set to hold two races on consecutive weekends.
With the coronavirus pandemic still casting doubts over the fate of flyaway races, the sport is considering to extend the European leg of the championship before curtain falls on the championship in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi in December. The sport has recently announced the cancellation of three races, the Azerbaijan, the Japanese and the Singapore Grands Prix.
Although the American leg of the championship with the Canadian, the Brazilian, the United States and the Meixcan Grands Prix might still go ahead this year, the possiblity of those events is constanty shrinking due to the fact that the American continent has become the epicentre of the crisis in recent months.
After new promoters have expressed their willingness to host a grand prix, a list of new European venues are being considered. Among those locations are Mugello, Imola, Portimao and Hockenheim which could join the new 2020 F1 calendar in order to establish a comprehensive schedule for the 71th season of the Formula One World Championship.
“There are a number of good European tracks where we could add another one or two races on to make sure we have a comprehensive season. We’re not going to declare it yet, as it’s still a work in progress,” said Brawn in converstation with formula1.com.
Formula One has been under pressure from fans and the media to reveal its finalized all-new calendar for the disrupted 2020 season. Ferrari’s former technical director has admitted that he is aware of the problem, but the Commercial Rights Holder wants to avoid to announce an uncertain schedule that would need to be changed in the constantly-evolving coronavirus situation.
“What we really want to avoid is announcing and changing it. We also need to announce it in enough time so people can make plans. We hope some races in the second half of the season will have spectators, so we need time for ticket sales and promotion to take place,” he said.
