F1 2020 Calendar: Brazil and Mexico are aggrieved that Formula One has cancelled races there this season for “unacceptable reasons”.
Formula One recently added Imola, Portimao and Nurburgring, taking the total numbers of races in the season to thirteen. Alongside this, F1 announced the cancellation of races in the Americas. This effectively means Canada, United States of America, Mexico and Brazil will not host a Grand Prix this season.
Read more: All you need to know about the iconic Imola circuit in Italy
Are Brazil and Mexico planning to sue F1?
The announcement of the cancellation has not gone well at Interlagos, San Paulo. The Brazilian Grand Prix race promoters have called the cancellation “unacceptable”, as ‘force majeure’ does not apply in this case.
They also might sue Liberty Media for it, with Mexico to join them in the petition as the aggrieved party. Speaking to O Estado de S.Paulo, circuit manager Tamas Rohonyi pointed out the force majeure clause.
Brazilian GP authorities feel that the pandemic is not ‘catastrophic’ enough to call for a cancellation and that F1 as a whole should be able to travel to the Americas to full their contract obligations.
All these statement also come from a place of financial difficulties, as cancellation of an event leads to massive problems for the circuit and its administration.
“The contract can only be cancelled for reasons of force majeure.”
“That is something that is out of the control of the parties involved, like a plane falling on the cars or that we are all a metre under water.”
F1 race promoters in Brazil and Mexico could sue Liberty Media over their cancelled 2020 races.https://t.co/PBQnLiDFxO #F1 #Formula1🏎 pic.twitter.com/jGzzc14QMF
— Steve (@SweepFan) July 29, 2020
But is it because Rio Janerio is getting preference over Interlagos?
In what might be a wicked twist in the tale, there are suggestions that Sao Paolo is incensed because Rio de Janerio is getting preference over them. As per La Gazzetta dello Sport, the conflict with F1 has more to do with this than the race cancellation this season.
Read more: Will Turkish GP be the 14th race of the 2020 season?
Notwithstanding this, Rohonyi added that the race cancellation will be a major financial loss for Interlagos. He clarified that tickets are not on sale, but they will lose out on a lot of sponsorship revenue.
“It is a major economic loss.”
“We hadn’t started selling tickets yet, but there are commitments with sponsors, suppliers and employees.”
