Formula One boss Chase Carey on Monday targeted the coronavirus-hit season eventually starting in Austria on July 5 after the French Grand Prix was cancelled and fans barred from the British race at Silverstone.
The French Grand
Prix, which was to have been held on June 28, was the tenth race of the season
to be scrapped or postponed.
“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 3-5 July weekend,” Carey said in a
statement.
“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.”
Carey’s statement
followed quickfire announcements from the French organisers and a statement
from the owners of the Silverstone track where the British Grand Prix is due to
take place on July 19.
“Given the
evolution of the situation linked to the spread of the Covid-19 virus, the
French Grand Prix takes note of the decisions announced by the French state,
making it impossible to maintain our event,” the race’s managing director Eric
Boullier said.
It joins nine other
races in the decimated 2020 championship to be either cancelled (Australia,
Monaco) or postponed (Bahrain, China, Vietnam, Netherlands, Spain, Azerbaijan,
Canada).
Organisers of the
race at Le Castellet were forced to act after President Emmanuel Macron’s
announcement last week that the lockdown in France will be extended until May
11 and public gatherings banned until mid-July.
Ruling out holding
the race behind closed doors, Boullier said: “Le Castellet are already turning
towards the summer of 2021”.
‘Races without fans’
In a series of
coordinated announcements, Silverstone’s owners then announced that no
spectators would be able to attend the British Grand Prix but that they hope it
will go ahead as scheduled.
“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,” the circuit’s managing director
Stuart Pringle stated on Silverstone’s Twitter account.
“We have left this
difficult decision for as long as possible, but it is abundantly clear given
the current conditions… that a grand prix under normal conditions is just not
going to be possible.”
F1 supremo Carey
said he expected “the early races to be without fans” but hoped that spectators
would be allowed back “as we move further into the schedule”.
He added: “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.
“The health and
safety of all involved will continue to be priority one and we will only go
forward if we are confident we have reliable procedures to address both risks
and possible issues.”
