With anticipation for weeks, the F.O.M. (Formula One Management) announced this week that the 2020 schedule is now complete. Ending in mid-December, 17 of the original 22 scheduled events will be run.
Two weeks following the race in Imola, Italy, which is scheduled for November 1, the track at Istanbul Park in Turkey will host an F1 race–at least for one year. An F1 race hasn’t been run at that facility since 2011. Also included in the expanded schedule is a race that will create the third doubleheader of the season. Those races will be held in Bahrain on November 29 and December 6. The 2020 schedule will culminate in the Emirates one week later when a race will be run at Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi.
The three additions compensate, in part, for canceled races in Australia, France, Monaco, Singapore, Azerbaijan, China, Vietnam, U.S., Mexico, and Canada.
F.O.M President Chase Carey is pleased that the season is closer to having a full slate and that the focus is now on racing, where it should be. “We are proud to announce that Turkey, Bahrain, and Abu Dhabi will be part of our 2020 season,” he said. “While we are all disappointed that we have not been able to return to some of our planned races this year,” Carey continued, “we are confident our season has started well and will continue to deliver plenty of excitement with traditional–as well as new–races that will entertain all our fans.”
F1’s Chase Carey (photo, Autosport)
Included on the 2020 schedule are two races that will be run with fans in attendance. Tickers are being distributed for the race in Sochi, Russia, which is scheduled for the end of September. Another venue, the Autodromo Internacional Algarve, host of the Portuguese Grand Prix on October 25, is targeting 30,000 fans per day when the racing weekend begins.
It is still unknown if fans will actually attend because of the COVID-19 situation, and it’s unknown at this time whether fans will be able to attend any of the three season-ending races scheduled in the Middle East. Carey put it this way: “While we want to see as many fans as possible return as soon as it is safe to do so, our priority remains the safety of the Formula One community and the communities we visit, and we review fan access on this basis.”
