In spite of many predictions that the entire 2020 season of Formula One races would have to be cancelled, thanks to the worldwide coronavirus lockdowns, it seems that racing will return in July.
Liberty Media, the company that owns and runs Formula One, has this morning announced that it expects the 2020 season to begin on the 3rd of July with the Austrian Grand Prix, held at the Red Bull Ring racetrack near Spielberg.
In a statement, Chase Carey, the chief executive of Liberty Media, said: "We're targeting a start to racing in Europe through July, August and beginning of September, with the first race taking place in Austria on 3rd to 5th July weekend. September, October and November, would see us race in Eurasia, Asia and the Americas, finishing the season in the Gulf in December with Bahrain before the traditional finale in Abu Dhabi, having completed between 15-18 races."
That's down on the planned 22 races for the season, and most, possibly all, of the proposed races will have to be held without spectators. "We expect the early races to be without fans but hope fans will be part of our events as we move further into the schedule. We still have to work out many issues like the procedures for the teams and our other partners to enter and operate in each country."
That will prove difficult for the race circuits that host the events - each track must pay a fee to Formula One for its event, and for most tracks their only source of revenue is ticket sales. Carey says that such issues will be dealt with, however: "While we have been moving forward with our 2020 plans, we have also been working hard with the FIA and the teams to strengthen the long term future of Formula 1 through an array of new technical, sporting, and financial regulations that will improve the competition and action on the track and make it a healthier business for all involved, particularly as we engage the issues created by the Covid-19 pandemic."
The Silverstone racetrack, in the UK, has confirmed in a letter this morning that it will be one of the tracks to run a race with no fans. "I am extremely disappointed to tell you that we are unable to stage this year's British Grand Prix in front of the fans at Silverstone," wrote circuit boss Stuart Pringle. "We have left this difficult decision for as long as possible, but it is abundantly clear given the current conditions in the country and the Government requirements in place now and for the foreseeable future, that a grand prix under normal conditions is just not going to be possible. Our obligations to protect the health and safety of everyone involved in preparing and delivering the event, our volunteer marshals and 'Race Makers', and of course, you, the amazing fans, means that this is the best, safest and only decision we could make." It is possible that Silverstone will, along with some other tracks, host more than one race in this abbreviated season and the possibility of running the track in reverse has been explored.
The enforced shut-down has endangered many of the smaller teams in Formula One, most of whom operate close to the financial edge at the best of times. Claire Williams, deputy chief of Williams Racing, one of the most historically successful teams, said last week that: "It's absolutely critical that we race. We have to wait obviously until the time is right to it's safe to do so. We're one of the true independents left, we don't have the backing that the majority of our competitors have up and down the grid. For us, going racing is absolutely critical this year. But as I said, it has to be when it's safe to do so."
Williams has recently taken out a refinancing loan to cover itself for the duration of the shut-down, including a mortgage on the team headquarters and, significantly, putting up its fleet of previous race and championship-winning cars, dating back to 1977, as security.
The 2020 season began in disarray in March when the Australian Grand Prix was called off with only hours to go before the first practice sessions were due to begin. Fans were physically turned away from the gates of the Albert Park track in Melbourne as the first coronavirus lockdowns began.