The 2020 F1 calendar has been announced, containing a record-breaking 22 races.
Next year’s season will see the addition of two rounds in Vietnam and the Netherlands. With only Germany’s race at the Hockenheimring dropping off the 2020 calendar, the schedule has reached a new peak.
The championship will open on March 15th at Melbourne and will be followed immediately by round two in Bahrain. After that the championship’s two new races will follow within the two months of the season.
F1 will make its first visit to Hanoi for the Vietnam Grand Prix on April 5th. The championship will then return to Zandvoort for the first time in 35 years on May 3rd. This will open the ‘European season’ before the championship moves on to Spain one week later, the Circuit de Catalunya‘s race having secured a late, one-year extension to its F1 contract.
The races in Azerbaijan and Canada will also be run back-to-back, which is likely to prove the most logistically challenging double-header of the year. As this year the races at Spa and Monza, Singapore and Sochi, and Austin and Mexico City will also be held on consecutive weekends.
Italy’s round of the championship is listed as being “subject to contract”. The calendar also requires the official approval of the World Motor Sport Council including an amendment to the Sporting Regulations, which currently stipulates a maximum of 21 races.
2020 F1 calendar
| Round | Race | Date | Forum |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australian Grand Prix | Mar 13-15 | Forum |
| 2 | Bahrain Grand Prix | Mar 20-22 | Forum |
| 3 | Vietnamese Grand Prix | Apr 3-5 | Forum |
| 4 | Chinese Grand Prix | Apr 17-19 | Forum |
| 5 | Dutch Grand Prix | May 1-3 | Forum |
| 6 | Spanish Grand Prix | May 8-10 | Forum |
| 7 | Monaco Grand Prix | May 21-24 | Forum |
| 8 | Azerbaijani Grand Prix | Jun 5-7 | Forum |
| 9 | Canadian Grand Prix | Jun 12-14 | Forum |
| 10 | French Grand Prix | Jun 26-28 | Forum |
| 11 | Austrian Grand Prix | Jul 3-5 | Forum |
| 12 | British Grand Prix | Jul 17-19 | Forum |
| 13 | Hungarian Grand Prix | Jul 31-Aug 2 | Forum |
| 14 | Belgian Grand Prix | Aug 28-30 | Forum |
| 15 | Italian Grand Prix | Sep 4-6 | Forum |
| 16 | Singapore Grand Prix | Sep 18-20 | Forum |
| 17 | Russian Grand Prix | Sep 25-27 | Forum |
| 18 | Japanese Grand Prix | Oct 9-11 | Forum |
| 19 | Mexican Grand Prix | Oct 23-25 | Forum |
| 20 | United States Grand Prix | Oct 30-Nov 1 | Forum |
| 21 | Brazilian Grand Prix | Nov 13-15 | Forum |
| 22 | Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | Nov 27-29 | Forum |
2020 F1 season
- Pictures: Wrecked chassis from Grosjean’s Bahrain fireball crash to go on display
- Bottas vs Rosberg: Hamilton’s Mercedes team mates compared after 78 races each
- F1 revenues fell by $877 million in Covid-struck 2020 season
- Hamilton and Mercedes finally announce new deal for 2021 season
- F1 audience figures “strong” in 2020 despite dip in television viewers
Matteo (@m-bagattini)
29th August 2019, 9:20
It will be stressing for the teams, but good for us as fans. I think we can’t reasonably go over this. Happy to see a back-to-back start of the championship as well as a change for the first European race; I would however swap Le Castellet with Hockenheim in zero time.
Logistics will be insane! For those interested, here’s a cool video from Wendover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OLVFa8YRfM
GeeMac (@geemac)
29th August 2019, 11:11
The Wendover video is great. I’ve watched his videos for quite a while so I was really happy when I saw F1 related content on his channel.
Pironi the Provocateur (@pironitheprovocateur)
29th August 2019, 9:31
It looks interesting, but the calendar is just too busy right now. I’m not happy they’ve saved the Barcelona snoozefest, that should be just a testing venue. If it was up to me (which it isn’t, but still), I would get rid of Abu Dhabi, Russia, Spain and France (and China, which I really don’t like as a venue), and bring back Hockenheim, Sepang and a race in Scandinavia, either a natural circuit in Finland or Copenhagen.
Jeffrey (@jeffreyj)
29th August 2019, 10:09
Even worse, we now have the entire month of May consisting of processional boring races with the Dutch, Spain and Monaco races grouped together. Depending on how the dice roll in Baku next year, that stretch might be prolonged into June.
BasCB (@bascb)
29th August 2019, 14:54
Well, at least Zandvoort is something we haven’t seen yet @jeffreyj. But yeah, I can’t say I am too hyped about having Barcelona back on the calender for another year. The last good-ish race was when the Mercs crashed eachother out in 2016.
Jeffrey (@jeffreyj)
29th August 2019, 17:17
@bascb In 2016 that crash was fun and the novelty of Verstappen winning his first race was nice, but the race itself was a bore-fest. I honestly struggle to remember even one good race there and I’ve been watching F1 for 25 years now.
BasCB (@bascb)
29th August 2019, 19:26
I must say that for me the race was a lot better than a bore fest – Verstappen did have to work to stay ahead of Kimi in the end @jeffreyj, but I cannot disagree with you that with 2016 being somewhat of a highlight in the last few decades, this race certainly certainly isn’t a highlight of the season (unless you are thrilled by the “European season” car updates, I guess).
DAllein (@)
29th August 2019, 10:26
And I am very happy Barcelona stays. It is an awesome track.
DAllein (@)
29th August 2019, 10:26
If you call Barcelona snoozefest, I would see how you call Zandvoort next year.
Chaitanya
29th August 2019, 9:33
That is too long to follow. I would really like if F1 drops 4 races and makes it 18 races in year so it would be easier to follow.
nickthegreek (@nickthegreek)
29th August 2019, 10:27
why? you don’t have to watch all races. you can just watch the highlights of some races if you don’t feel like watching them all
Chaitanya
29th August 2019, 10:39
I do skip the boring races(Russia, Monaco, China, Spain, to name a few). Sometimes I also am forced to watch them on cellphone(either due to overlap in football or cricket matches or due to me being on a trek somewhere in Sahyadris or Himalayas). I also follow motoGP(skip only the races that are held in Americas) so I feel like that 22 race calendar is a bit too much to follow when adding 18 GP calendar of MotoGP into mix.
pSynrg (@psynrg)
29th August 2019, 14:27
So, we should all lose out because Chaitanya wants to go rambling in the mountains?
Jeffrey (@jeffreyj)
29th August 2019, 17:23
@psynrg Hahaha
I wouldn’t mind Russia, Monaco, Spain, Baku, France, China, and Abu Dhabi being axed from the calendar, though.
pSynrg (@psynrg)
29th August 2019, 17:39
That’s just it, we’ve all got our personal likes and dislikes. I largely agree with your list of exclusions. With the exceptions of Baku and China.
I will watch all races live, always. Yep, even Paul Ricard, but the choice to watch or not is mine and I’d never expect anyone else to suffer my choices (well, apart from my Missus).
mfreire
31st August 2019, 4:32
I watch Monaco because it’s awesome to see F1 cars go around there, even though the Monaco track is terrible for racing and there is almost never an entertaining race there.
nickthegreek (@nickthegreek)
29th August 2019, 9:37
the more the merrier! love the new calendar!
KaIIe (@kaiie)
29th August 2019, 9:46
So much for trying to relieve the stress on the teams and the overworked staff.
Personally, this is too much. While I’ve followed the sport since 1996, F1 now takes over seemingly every weekend from March till pre-Christmas time. I’ve stopped watching the practice sessions some years ago, and a 22-race calendar probably means I’ll skip qualifyings as well and just watch the races themselves.
Jere (@jerejj)
29th August 2019, 11:13
@kaiie But the difference between 21 and 22 is only one.
DK
29th August 2019, 9:47
More races are good if the championship is close. If it’s just one team at the front with no challenge it adds nothing and people will grow tired of it earlier in the season. So, don’t know if it’s a good move or not. 21 was already a lot of races.
Jeffrey (@jeffreyj)
29th August 2019, 10:11
Agreed, but that is true for short and long calendars. Mercedes domination is simply bad for F1
DAllein (@)
29th August 2019, 10:25
Zandvoort – May 3.
LOL! Ready your skis, F1! And Winter tyres.
BasCB (@bascb)
29th August 2019, 14:55
Nah, just a rather solid chance of rain. But it might just be warm and sandy, not too unlike Bahrain @dallein
Jeffrey (@jeffreyj)
29th August 2019, 10:27
I see little practical issues with an even bigger calender.
If they do back-to-back races only and Britain as a stand-alone because of Brexit, the calendar could easily be expanded to 25 races including a summer break. The extra money it generates for the teams is more than enough to expand their crew in order to rotate them. For drivers it’s not a problem. They go home and play i-racing all day anyway.
However, if they do just 18 rounds and have them all alternate yearly (like they did with Hockenheim and Nurburg) we could keep the calendar fresh each year and not overload the appetite for F1 among fans. Personally I’m not sure which one I would prefer.
Jere (@jerejj)
29th August 2019, 11:12
@jeffreyj But having 99% of the race calendar formed out of back-to-back events wouldn’t work in reality, though. It’d simply kill off the teams. Some stuff just will never work, and people need to accept that. Furthermore, for the smaller teams, the part about expanding and or rotating crews is easier said than done.
Jere (@jerejj)
29th August 2019, 11:08
The distance between Singapore and Suzuka: 5,041.30 km by air
The distance between Baku and Montreal: 8,937.32 km
The distance between Melbourne and Bahrain: 12,111.53 km, still,
the latter two (in this ‘draft’ calendar) form a double-header and not the former.
Furthermore, I can’t see the French GP remaining on June 28 because next year’s Tour de France will commence on that weekend, and it’s going to take place at the same part of the country where the Paul Ricard circuit locates, so it’d be a big logistical nightmare. The same if the French GP took place on July 19, the weekend when it will finish as it will both commence and finish in Southern France. Ironically, the British GP earlier seemed set to get the very-late June slot, but what changed subsequently? Move the British GP there, and then the French GP to July 12 and Austrian GP to July 19, or Austrian GP to July 12, and French GP to July 26 to form a double-header with Hungary.
I also don’t really buy into the part mentioned in the previous post about this topic concerning the logistics of pairing a first-time flyaway venue with another, i.e., Vietnam and China on subsequent weekends. COTA formed a double-header with Brazil in its debut season, and the same with Sochi in 2014 when it followed Suzuka by only seven days. Since these two doubles worked just fine, why wouldn’t a Vietnam-China double equally work next season? What’s the difference? Quite a lot of contradictions here.
Jere (@jerejj)
29th August 2019, 14:04
I forgot to add Baku concerning the last part of the post as well, so COTA, Sochi, and Baku all were paired with another venue for their respective debut seasons, and yet somehow with Vietnam it’d be a problem.
BasCB (@bascb)
29th August 2019, 14:59
About the French GP it seems that since the region is heavily involved in both the Tour and the GP they are planning to make the tour fit in right after the race weekend or something to use the occasion @jerejj.
I think there is a huge difference in expectations going to a new venue, especially in a country in Asia the “circus” hasn’t yet been – see how India made stuff complicated even though up front everything seemed to be well organized. With brexit, until we know what is going to happen there, we should expect problems both getting in AND out, so free up a lot of space around that.
sam3110 (@sam3110)
29th August 2019, 11:22
Australia to Bahrain
Azerbaijan to Canada
Singapore to Russia
3 back to backs that make no sense.
Make China the week after Australia, it’s a much shorter route, or make the first double header China and Vietnam.
Canada should be 2 weeks after and 2 weeks before any event in Europe.
You can easily run a double double with France Jul 3-5, Austria Jul 10-12, then a 2 week break, then British and Hungarian double header. (Even better, swap Austrian and British around so the travel is even less)
Lastly, Sochi should be a stopgap race between European leg of the season and the Asian, seeing as it’s in the middle of the two!
BasCB (@bascb)
29th August 2019, 15:09
Australia’s contract states it is the first race @sam3110, so you can’t have china first. As was explained in the article a few days back trying to predict the calendar there are all sorts of limitations to which race can go where – https://www.racefans.net/2019/08/27/why-the-2020-f1-calendar-is-taking-so-long-to-appear/
By the way, in that prediction apart from having Baku and Canada the other way round, everything fits.
sam3110 (@sam3110)
30th August 2019, 3:36
I never said start in China, just make the first double header China and Vietnam. So go Australia, then 2 weeks later Vietnam, then China a week later, then Bahrain after that.
Other than Canada having to be in the middle of the Northern Hemisphere summer and Mexico and Austin having to be later in the year due to the heat, I’d like to see the Calender shifted so that each region is in one big block and that’s that. So Japan, China, Vietnam, Singapore, Australia together, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Russia and Azerbaijan together, Hungary, Austria, Italy, Spain, Monaco, France, Belgium, Netherlands and UK all together, and Canada, USA, Mexico and Brazil all together but unfortunately the seasons in each continent don’t allow it.
Jere (@jerejj)
22nd September 2020, 17:35
@sam3110 Heat isn’t the problem for the Mexican GP in June, but that it’s one of the rainiest months in Mexico City.
Imre (@f1mre)
29th August 2019, 11:29
May is not expected to be an exciting month for on-track action. Chances are high for three successive boring races.
StefMeister (@stefmeister)
29th August 2019, 12:46
I still think more than 19 is too many, 17-18 always felt like the perfect number.
When we had 19 or less each race felt like a special event & when one race weekend finished I eagerly awaited the next. As the calendar has expanded each race has begun to feel less special & more like just a routine thing that happens virtually every weekend & I don’t think thats a positive thing.
Not to mention how more races also results in more clashes with other series as well as other events.
Roger Ayles (@roger-ayles)
29th August 2019, 15:25
I also feel this way @stefmeister.
As more races get added each one begins to feel devalued. An F1 race happening becomes routine rather than something that is a special event that you look forward to every 2-3 weeks.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
30th August 2019, 11:10
I by far prefer seeing it more often, I understand it can be problematic for teams, but for me personally I’d like 40 races, 1 a week.
Pironi the Provocateur (@pironitheprovocateur)
29th August 2019, 12:50
Couldn’t agree more. 2005 remains the perfect season for me with respect to duration.
Pironi the Provocateur (@pironitheprovocateur)
29th August 2019, 12:51
Sorry, that was a reaction to @StefMeister.
MXMXD (@mxmxd)
29th August 2019, 12:59
Melbourne-Barhein; Montreal-Baku on back to backs… WHY?
Jere (@jerejj)
22nd September 2020, 17:36
@mxmxd Not anymore because COVID.
Roger Ayles (@roger-ayles)
29th August 2019, 15:16
22 is too many and 7 back-to-back races is way too many. It is going to start feeling like we are doing nothing but watching F1 every weekend and while i’m sure the kids who have nothing else to do over a weekend may be fine with it those of us who have lives and families actually want to have some time to spend with them and doing and watching other things.
It is getting to the point where i feel the sport i have loved for 45-50 years is actively trying to make me not watch all of it’s races which seems crazy to me. i want to watch every race live because i have done so for as long as i’ve had access to live F1 on TV, Yet more races is going to start turning me away unfortunately and once i miss one i’m more likely to miss more & therefore more likely to just start caring less.
I also am sure i remember one of the fan surveys they did a few years ago had a vast majority of fans been against more than 20 races with well over 50% saying they would watch less if the schedule went above 20.
So are they trying to turn there fans off?
Surely they want fans to watch all of the races? Actively pushing fans away from watching everything seems totally backwards thinking & I predict the TV ratings will go into freefall over the coming years if they add more.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
30th August 2019, 11:11
It’s great, I love back to back races, don’t have to wait as often!
Rick D. (@partsguy20)
29th August 2019, 18:37
I’m glad for the expanded calendar, and happy for the teams that they didn’t have to do another back-to-back-to-back to make it work, although having a lot of back-to-back weekends will still be difficult.
For my wife and I, the eight to ten weeks between the last race and the start of testing is the longest part of the year. We love watching the races together (and quali!) and I’m glad we have so many to look forward to next season.
And hopefully a year later the 2021 regulations turn some of the “snoozefest” races that people complain about into something exciting. Lots to look forward to as a fan in the coming years!
mfreire
31st August 2019, 4:29
Vietnam and Bahrain should be switched- it makes the travel for the Australian race easier. And also switch the Dutch and French or Azerbaijan GP’s. Holland in May is often cool and rainy.
mfreire
31st August 2019, 4:45
And also Canada and Azerbaijan back to back? That makes no sense. Canada is also clashing with the Le Mans 24H.
This would have made more sense:
1. Australia (March 15)
2. Vietnam (March 22)
3. China (April 5)
4. Bahrain (April 12)
5. Azerbaijan (April 26)
6. Spain (May 10)
7. Monaco (May 24)
8. Canada (June 7)
9. France (June 21)
10. Holland (June 28)
11. Austria (July 12)
12. Britain (July 19)
13. Hungary (August 16)
14. Belgium (August 30)
15. Italy (September 6)
16. Russia (September 20)
17. Singapore (October 4)
18. Japan (October 11)
19. USA (October 25)
20. Mexico (November 1)
21. Brazil (November 15)
22. Abu Dhabi (November 29)
mfreire
31st August 2019, 8:54
*break moved forward to avoid clashing with the Tokyo Olympics
Jere (@jerejj)
22nd September 2020, 17:40
@mfreire Well, all of this became irrelevant once COVID started to take control of matters. Furthermore, the Canadian GP and LM24H sharing a weekend isn’t a problem as there wouldn’t be a direct clash (any more than on the several past occasions) due to the time difference between Montreal and Le Mans.