F1 Calendar 2020: After months of speculation, Hockenheim has confirmed it will not host the German Grand Prix this season.
The German Grand Prix at Hockenheim has been called off, the circuit has confirmed. This paves way for Nurburgring to take the moniker of the German Grand Prix this season if it goes ahead.
Germany has done a great job of controlling the pandemic outbreak so far. It is worth noting that the Bundesliga was the first major European football league to start post-lockdown.
But Teske makes a valid point, talking about the lack of economic sense in going ahead with the race. There is also the risk involved with having fans back, with Germany keen not to see a re-emergence of cases.
Hockenheim’s MD Jorn Teske had this to say to Motorsport.com. “From today’s point of view, for a potential race in October, we cannot assume that an event with more than 500 spectators would be possible.”
“So from an economic point of view, this makes us less attractive for Formula 1 than other race tracks where they are allowed fan events under certain conditions.”
“We can confirm, therefore, that there will be no Grand Prix at Hockenheim in 2020.”
Current status of other race tracks for the F1 Calendar 2020
This announcement leaves FIA with Hockenheim as the alternative for the German GP. The circuit has confirmed they are in negotiations, but will only go ahead if it makes economic sense to them.
Apart from this, Italy’s iconic Imola circuit and Portugal’s Portimao are expected to make their F1 debut this season. If both are confirmed, it will take the racing rally to 12 for the season. This after another race in Italy’s Mugello, and Sochi in Russia were added in the last update.
Latest 2020 #F1 calendar developments:
✅ Imola and Algarve now set to get races
❓ Nurburgring could jump in ahead of Hockenheim in a new Euro triple-header
❌ Asia and the Americas increasingly unlikely to hold any GPs
Full story from @SMitchellF1:https://t.co/fB6maQkX5q
— The Race (@wearetherace) July 23, 2020
Things are not so rosy for Asia and the Americas, though. The Canadian, Japanese, Singapore and Chinese GP are not going to be held. The current pandemic situation in USA, Mexico and Brazil rule them out of contention too.
Hence, Malaysia is being tipped to make a comeback to the F1 calendar. Vietnam is another track that could make its debut this season, alongside Mugello and Sochi. Apart from these, authorities are hopeful of the Bahrain and Abu Dhabi GP going ahead at the end of the season.
