F1 has added three more rounds in the 2020 calendar with Imola, Portimao and Nurburgring joining as the Americas races are cancelled.
After confirming Mugello and Sochi last weekend, F1 has added three more rounds with Imola, Portimao and Nurburgring joining in. The former will be the third event in Italy, the middle being the first in Portugal as Germany gets added as well.
The three F1 races will take place after the circus returns from Russia with Nurburgring first on October 9-11, followed by Portimao on October 23-25 and Imola on October 31 – November 1. The trio were in talks for long since COVID-19 pandemic raged on in Europe.
The circuit in Portugal got the FIA Grade A certificate earlier this season which paved way for organisers to get into a serious discussions. It was a similar story for Imola, while Nurburging was a late addition, especially as Hockenheim was talked more.
The German race is named as ‘FORMULA 1 ARAMCO GROSSER PREIS DER EIFEL – Nurburgring’, with the Portuguese as ‘FORMULA 1 HEINEKEN PORTUGUESE GRAND PRIX – Portimao’ and the Italian as ‘FORMULA 1 EMIRATES GRAN PREMIO DELL’EMILIA ROMAGNA – Imola’ – the sponsors being Aramco, Heineken and Emirates.
Moreover, Imola will be a two-day event as opposed to the three days as per the dates. The announcement from F1 also confirmed that races in USA, Mexico, Brazil and Canada officially stands cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which means, the sport won’t be traveling at all to the American continent in 2020.
“We are pleased that we continue to make strong progress in finalising our plans for the 2020 season and are excited to welcome Nürburgring, Portimão and Imola to the revised calendar,” said Chase Carey. “We want to thank the promoters, the teams, and the FIA for their full support in our efforts to bring our fans exciting racing this season during an unprecedented time.
“We also want to pay tribute to our incredible partners in the Americas and look forward to being back with them next season when they will once again be able to thrill millions of fans around the world.”
It is likely that all three races will have no fans. With most of the Europe covered, F1 only has China, Vietnam, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi left now. Among these, the Chinese GP is likely to be cancelled with the Vietnam GP as a 50-50 as of now, as it is now been linked to a race in Malaysia. The two Middle Eastern races is more or less fixed to end 2020.
Here’s last from F1 on Mugello and Sochi
Here’s Chase Carey on Americas being a problem for 2020
Here’s the details of 2020 season
Here’s what the news was from Portimao
Here’s what the news was from Hockenheim