Formula One confirms revised 17-race schedule with December conclusion
The Formula One season will finish just 12 days before Christmas after the sport’s bosses rubber-stamped a final 17-race calendar.
Four rounds were added to the schedule, with F1 set to returntoTurkeyforthefirsttime in nine years.
Bahrain will then host two races before the seasonconcluding grand prix in Abu Dhabi on December 13 – a date which could see Lewis Hamilton
crowned world champion for a record-equalling seventh time. It marks the latest finish to an F1 season since 1963 and thefewestracesstagedinayear since Jenson Button drove to his sole world championship in 2009.
TheChineseGrandPrixhas officiallybeencancelled,while theinauguralVietnameserace in its capital of Hanoi, which had been set to take place in April, will now have to wait until 2021. An F1 statement also said that “a number of races” this season would be open to a limited number of fans.
It is understood fans could return for the September 13 race in Mugello – which marks Ferrari’s 1,000th Grand Prix – and the rounds that follow. However, the final race in Abu Dhabi is unlikely to be open to spectators.
F1 chief executive Chase Carey said: “We are proud to announcethatTurkey,Bahrain and Abu Dhabi will be part of our 2020 season.
“This year has presented Formula One and the world with an unprecedented challenge and we want to pay tribute to everyone across F1, the FIA, the teams, and our partners who have made this possible.
“While we are all disappointed that we have not been able to return to some of our planned races this year, we are confident our season has started well and will continue to deliver plenty of excitement withtraditional,aswellasnew, races that will entertain all our fans.”
The return to Turkey’s Istanbul Park – a venue used by F1 from 2005 to 2011 – will take place on November 15.
The Bahrain races are pencilled in for November 29 and December 6 ahead of the final roundattheYasMarinaCircuit a week later.
The 2020 calendar had been set to include a recordbreaking 22 rounds before the coronavirus pandemic forced thesport’sbossestotearupthe schedule.
This weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps will be the seventh of a whirlwind campaign with 17 races taking place in five and a half months.