F1 2020 calendar: New schedule, dates and races for revised season

Formula One has unveiled the first part of its revamped 2020 calendar, which features two Grands Prix in both Austria and Great Britain as part of an eight-race European schedule.

All eight confirmed races across the six tracks will be staged behind closed doors, meaning the only chance for fans to watch the season get underway will be on television.

The 3 July start date in Austria means the campaign will get underway nearly four months later than planned due to the global outbreak of coronavirus, which curtailed the Australian Grand Prix back in March just hours before the opening session was due to begin.

Austria’s Red Bull Ring will host the first two race weekends of the season in July, with the second round set to be named the Styrian Grand Prix after the surrounding the Spielberg circuit. Silverstone will also host two races, with the 2 August British Grand Prix followed immediately by the inaugural F1 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.

Talks are currently taking place about the format of those double race weekends, although all teams would need to agree on any changes unanimously.

Along with the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone - which will make up half of the European leg of the 2020 season - the Hungaroring, Catalunya, Spa-Francorchamps and Monza will also host races without fans in attendance. F1 hopes to announce in the coming weeks the remainder of the season, which will see the sport move through the remaining continents before ending the season in the Middle East, with between seven and 10 more race weekends to be announced and double-headers being discussed at venues such as Bahrain and Abu Dhabi.

2020 F1 calendar

3-5 July: Austrian Grand Prix (Red Bull Ring)

10-12 July: Styrian Grand Prix (Red Bull Ring)

17-19 July: Hungarian Grand Prix (Hungaroring)

31 July - 2 August: British Grand Prix (Silverstone)

7-9 August: F1 70th Anniversary Grand Prix (Silverstone)

14-16 August: Spanish Grand Prix (Catalunya)

28-30 August: Belgian Grand Prix (Spa-Francorchamps)

4-6 September: Italian Grand Prix (Monza)

What about the rest of the calendar?

The remainder of the season will be announced in the coming weeks, with circuits in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi likely to feature among others in a seven-10 race schedule.

Which races will not be included?

The venues that will not feature on the remainder of the calendar include Australia, Monaco, the Netherlands and France, with those races already confirmed to have been cancelled until 2021.

The Dutch Grand Prix was due to return to the calendar this year for the first time since 1985 at Zandvoort, but a decision was taken at the end of May to abandon the 2020 event and begin planning to return to the calendar next year.

Japan, Singapore and Azerbaijan have also been confirmed as full cancellations, with F1 turning to alternative tracks for the rest of the calendar.

What about reverse-grid races?

The idea has been proposed to the teams by the Formula One Group with support from the FIA, with the double-header races in Austria and Britain identified as the ideal scenario to try out a new weekend format.

Instead of the traditional three-stage knockout qualifying session on Saturday followed by the Grand Prix on Sunday, teams have been offered a qualifying race on Saturday with the grid determined by the reverse order of the championship standings.

That would mean the second race of the season at the Red Bull Ring would start on Saturday with the reverse order from the opening round of the season, with the results from Saturday’s qualifying race determining the grid for Sunday’s main Grand Prix.

The idea has backing from nine of the 10 teams, with Mercedes providing the only opposition to the proposal as it would provide more of a threat to their domination of the sport.