What are the plans for Formula One in 2020?

Like all sports, Formula One has been hit hard by the Covid-19pandemic. The 2020 season which was due to start back in March, has yet tobegin.

It’s an unprecedented situation for the sport, which hasn’tfaced an issue like this in its 70-year history.

What’s worse, the sport’s globe-trotting nature makes itunique in its acute vulnerability to the current global lockdown. A questionableprize money model also means a number of teams are at risk of going out ofbusiness.

But all hope is not lost just yet. Several countries arestarting to gently ease their lockdown measures, and we might still get a 2020championship contest between Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and the rest …

Best case plan – 19 races

As things stand, this year’s opening nine rounds have been delayed.Officially, eight have been postponed, with only the Monaco Grand Prixofficially cancelled.

It means the French Grand Prix is currently set to be theopening race of the season on June 28th, but with President Emmanuel Macron recentlyextending the country’s lockdown, it seems highly likely the Paul Ricard eventwill be postponed too.

The sport’s bosses remain optimistic, however. Formula Onechief Ross Brawn recently said that if they can start the season in July, theycould yet hold a 19-race 2020 season.

To fit that in, the sport would hold races on three successiveweekends, followed by a one-week break.  

Grand Prixs would also likely be held over two days insteadof three, and with some behind closed doors. The traditional August summer breakhas also been cancelled to open up more space in the calendar.

And with Austria beginning to relax some lockdown measures,it means the opening race could be the Austrian Grand Prix on July 5.

From there, we could then have three races per month forfive or six months, bringing us up to a near-normal 18 or 19 race season.

The season could be extended well into December, with a potentialknock-on delay of only a month or two for the 2021 season.

Worst case plan – 0 races

Of course, the worst case scenario is that Formula One isunable to host a 2020 season at all.

As mentioned, the sport’s unique travelling nature means it’sat the mercy of the lockdown measures across a host of nations.

Thousands of people are needed for a Grand Prix to go ahead,and all would need to be safe to travel. It’s entirely plausible the sportwrites off 2020 and goes again in 2021.

The third plan – 8 races

But with several countries starting to ease their lockdownmeasures, including Italy – the home of the Italian Grand Prix, Ferrari, AlphaTauri and Pirelli – another likely scenario is a truncated season.

According to the Formula One rulebook, only eight races are requiredfor a season to qualify for World Championship status.

By that measure, the sport has plenty of time between nowand the end of 2020 to put an eight-race season together.

Where and when those races take place remains to be seen,but there’s plenty of hope that we will still get a 2020 F1 season.

All odds and markets correct as of date of publication.