In the round-up: The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is expected to be the next round of the 2020 F1 season which will be postponed.
Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
To finish first, first you must… start.@LandoNorris's stream dropped during the formation lap for the Virtual #BahrainGP. He wasn't best pleased.#F1 pic.twitter.com/ABA3U43TiQ
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) March 22, 2020
Well I had a lovely time driving around for 29laps, completely unaware the original race got re-started 😅 I hope you enjoyed watching the ‘other race’ though! pic.twitter.com/DS2X76JEy4
— Anthony Davidson (@antdavidson) March 22, 2020
That was the funnest race ever. So incredibly proud of everyone for pulling together at this difficult time to create some light relief through #F1Esports. Probably one of the most intense weeks I’ve had in my career but we did just organise the Bahrain GP, albeit #VirtualGP 👊👊
— Dr. Julian Tan (@julianlipyi) March 22, 2020
That moment when #F1 Virtual race was so much better than most of the races from last year. 😂
— Rafael Dohms (@rdohms) March 22, 2020
Next time when you organize a race better you call a good drivers or average sim races to fill up good mix. Today's #VirtualGP shows it could be a disaster if you put celebrities in #F1Esports to be honest. I wouldn't watch it again if you do the same next time @Formula1game @F1
— V1TaL1Ty Gaming (@V1TaL1TyG) March 22, 2020
Just a reminder: these are not virtual bumps or sim bumps- these are real bumps. They will be here in November. Thank you. pic.twitter.com/4oEfkFanuM
— Sebring International Raceway (@sebringraceway) March 22, 2020
I’m staying in and I’m staying occupied! Found the old typewriter. I wasn’t going to type a letter, I typed this picture of Ayrton Senna instead. The ribbon was a bit messy and it takes a while to over-type to get the “shading” but I’m not going anywhere! I hope you like it! pic.twitter.com/Sp11IyWIjf
— Graeme (@graeme_lowdon) March 22, 2020
Just a quick message to share a few thoughts on the Dutch GP which has been postponed unfortunately 😢 I am really impressed with the work that has been done so far by everyone involved 💪🏻 I hope to be driving the challening new track @CPZtweets again soon🚀 #DutchGP #KeepPushing pic.twitter.com/NqRoGoMkke
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) March 22, 2020
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
More motor racing links of interest:
Baku postponement likely; Canada could open 2020 F1 season (Racer)
"Once Baku’s postponement is confirmed, the opening race becomes the Canadian GP, with Montreal originally set to form the second part of a June back-to-back with Baku."
We always endeavour to credit original sources. If you have a tip for a link to feature in the next RaceFans round-up please send it in via the contact form.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Comment of the day
Were you disappointed by F1’s line-up for the Virtual Bahrain Grand Prix?
Lost opportunity to have a video game race featuring people we care about… then they ruin it with twitch influencers and Johnny Herbert.
I’m desperate for F1 content but I won’t be watching this. Missed opportunity.
Xcm
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Cacarella, James Newnham, Tommyc and George!
If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is via the contact form or adding to the list here.
Eric (@fletch)
23rd March 2020, 0:17
In my opinion at this point in our unfolding Covid19 pandemic, I don’t think we here in Canada will be hosting the first race.
I have tickets so I hope I’m wrong…
Jimmi Cynic (@jimmi-cynic)
23rd March 2020, 0:48
@fletch: Sad, but true. Only place that might be able to host the opening F1 race is Singapore. Oh well… one race to rule them all.
Mashiat (@mashiat)
23rd March 2020, 1:58
@jimmi-cynic Imagine the scenes if Hamilton was the first to retire and officially finished last in the driver’s standings.
Jimmi Cynic (@jimmi-cynic)
23rd March 2020, 6:54
@mashiat: And through a freak safety car incident in the closing laps, Stroll won the race… ;-)
AdrianMorse (@adrianmorse)
23rd March 2020, 5:46
Not really though. A formula 1 world championship requires at least 8 races.
not
23rd March 2020, 6:00
With the currently limited array of tools in the cupboard, I can’t see the Sing govt risking their overall strategy with an influx of foreigners directly into the heart of the city.
James Saunders
23rd March 2020, 4:15
Canada is not sending athletes to the summer Olympics so highly unlikely they’ll be a Canadian GP I’m afraid.
BasCB (@bascb)
23rd March 2020, 7:15
Yeah, I really don’t think there will be much racing (physical, real racing that is) going on before another few months. Who knows, maybe if Italy starts to get things under control, we can have the season start in Monza?
That would be a lovely way to give Italy a bit of a morale boost imo. Let’s hope that by then we’ll have this more or less under control.
Corey (@dragon86)
23rd March 2020, 0:23
Meanwhile the eNASCAR Pro Invitational ran without major issues. The only technical problems came with Jimmie Johnson having to reboot his computer right before the start of the race. Other than that, it was a typical NASCAR race, with plenty of crashes and a close race to the finish with Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin besting Dale Earnhardt Jr. to the line.
Mark Zastrow (@markzastrow)
23rd March 2020, 5:15
Yes, it really showed that iRacing is simply a much more mature platform for esports than Codemasters’ series, especially in the area of race control and broadcast direction. The camera controls and angles allowed for a very close facsimile of an actual broadcast. The damage/reset options provided incentive for drivers to not go completely wild, even giving a strategical bent to proceedings when drivers ran out of fast repairs. And it was a relief that they could intervene and not throw caution flags, which allowed them the clean green flag run to the end.
It’s only natural that F1 would use their official licensed game, but it’s notable that NASCAR also has an official game and they opted against it in favor of iRacing…
Jake
23rd March 2020, 16:31
@markzastrow
The thing with iRacing is that it’s very realistic to drive, at least when we’re talking about NASCAR. Much, much more so than the current NASCAR Heat games, which have been made by a studio that’s tiny compared to any of the big racing game developers. We’ve seen a few current drivers come up thanks to iRacing, even. Hence why NASCAR has made their game for all NASCAR esports. What also helps is that iRacing has been a hub for esports for years now, so they’ve had time to get it set up properly, compared to Codies and F1 who only recently got into it on an official basis.
I imagine the only reason that it’s not their official licensed game is the fact that it’s only available on PC.
George
23rd March 2020, 0:27
There will be no f1 racing in 2020
why are people still posting articles about postponement and moving dates forward.
The whole season will be cancelled move onto 2021 for now …..
Andy
23rd March 2020, 1:03
Too much money at stake so they keep hoping for the best. Simple
Chaitanya
23rd March 2020, 2:10
Maybe like Bahrain had orignally proposed racing behind closed doors.
ColdFly (@)
23rd March 2020, 9:00
Just to please George allowing you to say ‘I told you so’.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
23rd March 2020, 0:55
Graeme Lowdon’s portrait of Senna is phenomenal. The precursor to ASCII art.
And all I’m doing is catching up on movies and TV shows.
Corey (@dragon86)
23rd March 2020, 1:25
Given that Azerbaijan uses a street circuit, how much of the postponed is due to the fact that construction would have to take place now, during the pandemic and not afterwards? And wouldn’t the same issues come up for Montreal given that the stands and some of the infrastructure are temporary?
BasCB (@bascb)
23rd March 2020, 7:18
I am sure that is one reason why they had to call it now @dragon86, since they would now be at a point where they knew they could, or as it seems couldn’t make sure everything was built up in time. Although at the same time, I’d say Baku was right to not want to invite hundreds of thousands of people to stand close to each other in the city when (hopefully) the peak is behind us, but there are still millions out there who can get infected and sick.
Jere (@jerejj)
23rd March 2020, 12:36
dragon86 Only some of the stands, but the rest of the infrastructure is permanent there.
JohnH (@johnrkh)
23rd March 2020, 2:41
Breaking in Aus is that our Olympic team has been told to prepare for a 2021 Olympics. I think one of the reasons for a delay is the extended travel bans in place and the likelihood of them being extended till the end of the yr.
That may rule out F1 races in japan, Nth and Sth America but maybe they can salvage some in Europe.
Chaitanya
23rd March 2020, 3:08
India has closed all borders(for now till end of month with review on 31st with deportation of non-Indians(except for diplomats) done at end of Feb) and ports. Even within India movement is restricted by closures of all public transport with cities on lockdown(sect 144 of IPC imposed). Given how things are developing dont see relief to this improving in coming months to come. Looking at how bad the conditions are in UK, Spain, Italy and France I dont see all those 4 races happening this year and they are in worse condition than India with govt seemingly unable to control the spread.
JohnH (@johnrkh)
23rd March 2020, 5:51
Chaitanya In Aus our states are also closing their borders as far as I know all sport and recreational activities pubs, clubs, restaurants, coffee shops E.T.C have been ordered to close. A very large proportion of the country has come to a halt, quite literally overnight millions have lost their employment.
No governments are being successful at controlling the virus the US looks like it’s in for some real problems. NY cases jumped from just under 5000 to over 15000 from Sunday to Monday.
This is a lesson for all of our governments in the future, act early and take the strongest possible actions.
Jake
23rd March 2020, 16:40
@johnrkh
American chiming in. It’s not horrible over here yet, but it’s probably going to get much worse before it gets better. Our government originally tried to downplay the danger the virus proposes, and worse yet, we have a lot of people who would flip you off if you suggested they follow the self isolation guidelines. We basically are repeating what happened in Italy on a larger scale, thanks to the fact that some people refuse to make a personal sacrifice for the greater good because ‘muh freedom’.
We definitely weren’t ready for it at all, and the response from the public has been either straight up panic, or going out even more often because they think they’re invincible and wanna stick it to the idiots panicking.
Jay Menon (@jaymenon10)
23rd March 2020, 3:07
I feel that F1 should be planning for the reality of no races occurring to at least post “Summer Break” in August. I dont see any races going ahead for the next 4 to 5 months, as minimum.
Perhaps F1 should consider a totally different model for the half season or so that we might get? For example, scrap the traditional weekend format and try something completely different like all the things that have been touted over the years. You know, sprint race, qualy race, reverse grids, or perhaps some sort of “playoff type” approach. Essentially, it will draw more eyes to the events that do go on, and potentially allow the fans more action during the weekend.
Obviously, I very much doubt this would happen.
There is a good chance that this season may just be cancelled as a whole. What would be the implications of that?
Jere (@jerejj)
23rd March 2020, 12:39
What does Rafael Dohms expect? Crash-fests like that couldn’t happen in real life since there’s much more at stake, even well-beings and lives, and add to that; it’s all professional-level unlike this virtual #NotThe series, which is basically gimmicky.
BTW, Nico Hulkenberg isn’t Monegasque. Lando’s reaction, though.