In the round-up: Two new races could be added to the 2021 F1 calendar, the sport’s chairman and CEO Chase Carey has indicated.
What they say
Speaking in a Liberty Media investor call, Carey said the sport hopes next year’s calendar won’t be affected by the disruption caused by the pandemic:
We don’t have a magic number, but the answer’s yes. Realistically our goal is to have 2021 look like the 2021 we planned back in January. Ultimately we have renewals to put in place and we have some ongoing discussions with a couple of potential new races that we think would be a positive enhancement to the business for fans and shareholders.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Links
More motor racing links of interest:
Silverstone marshals wary of extra risks to F1 going behind closed doors (The Guardian)
"I would feel very uncomfortable if there was an incident and a driver was taken to a hospital,” she says. “Even a driver with a minor injury that requires medical attention is an unnecessary burden on the health system at the moment."
Reprise du sport automobile dès le 11 mai (FFSA - French)
French motor racing circuits will be able to welcome some visitors again from Monday.
Formula 1 bosses in talks with UK government over quarantine measures (BBC)
"F1 bosses have been involved in detailed discussion with the government at all levels regarding the testing and isolation plans it will have in place. Those talks will continue this week as more detail emerges."
Carlin could put F2 driver in IndyCar (Autosport)
"If IndyCar goes racing soon and F2 doesn't, then it might be an option, but I'm just saying it might."
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
Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Social distance?
I was always used to do it during race more than lap behind.— Taki Inoue (@takiinoue) May 9, 2020
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
This week’s poll asks whether NASCAR should resume reacing this weekend. Neil sees both sides of the argument:
On one hand, if managed correctly and sensibly I don’t have any great problem with it. The teams are far smaller than in F1, it’s a non-contact sport, protective equipment can be worn and distancing can be followed nearly all the time. The risk isn’t zero, but the virus most likely isn’t going anywhere until widespread immunity in populations can control it, and even then there’s a good chance it’ll hang around like its cousins, so the risk will probably never be zero again.
Overall, I think the potential for this to cause significant problems is sufficiently low for it to go ahead.
But on the other hand, I’m sat here safe in the knowledge that it doesn’t matter what I think, so I can perhaps afford to be less cautious… and I’m in the UK, with no intimate knowledge of virus spread in North Carolina. So I went in the middle… neither agree not disagree.
Neil (@Neilosjames)
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to 130R and Sushant008!
If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is via the contact form or adding to the list here.
On this day in F1
- 45 years ago today Niki Lauda won the Monaco Grand Prix for Ferrari, despite fading oil pressure which allowed Emerson Fittipaldi to close late in the race.
petebaldwin (@)
11th May 2020, 0:18
The crash at the start of the 2nd Formula E Monaco e-sports race was brilliant. Around 1:05 in this video. :D
https://www.motorsport.com/gaming/video/formula-e-race-at-home-challenge-round-3-monaco-highlights/466155/
DanielH (@danielh)
11th May 2020, 12:16
Was it, though? I don’t think the Formula E sim racing works as well as others. The drivers are continuously bumping into walls and each other with no consequences (yes, apparently the cars get damaged, but as we’re not shown the damage, there’s no way to tell between a damaged car going slowly or just a driver who is not very good at sim racing). The Race eSports All Star series is much better. There are grass run-offs (remember them?) so if drivers make a mistake and go off the circuit they visibly lose time. If they lose the rear of the car, they spin. In Formula E they just tap the wall and carry on with no consequences.
StephenH
11th May 2020, 0:23
Takai Inoe may have been a terrible drive, but his tweets are priceless. Fair play to him for being so self-deprecating.
George O'Donnell (@georgeod)
11th May 2020, 16:12
Except when he tweets tastelessly about fatal accidents. I unfollowed him after he did that a few years ago.
PeterG
11th May 2020, 1:38
New races on more of the boring cookie cutter sterile modern style circuits just to get the calendar to the Liberty dream of 25 races to please their shareholders would not be a positive as far as I’m concerned.
There is a thing as too many & I maintain that anything over 18-19 is too many. You just dilute things & end up with each race feeling less special. Not to mention clashes with other series making following anything other than F1 more difficult.
sam3110 (@sam3110)
11th May 2020, 7:14
It’s far more likely to be the Miami track and then a circuit already built that has the relevant license, I’m personally in favour of a race at Portimao or a return to Turkey or Malaysia
Jere (@jerejj)
11th May 2020, 8:05
@PeterG Again, 25 isn’t a definite target for the number of races. There isn’t a specific target figure for that, but more importantly, weekend-clashes with other series are inevitable and impossible to avoid to the maximum extent as otherwise, there’d be zero weekends left for the F1 races.
ColdFly (@)
11th May 2020, 8:40
It’s a bit ‘cookie cutter’ to jump at his comment with complaints when he did not say what other races they are looking at and even if the total number will go up.
My glass is always half full and I take it as a positive that he even mentioned the fans’ interest in an investor call.
Jere (@jerejj)
11th May 2020, 8:03
Regarding the BBC-article: According to what I read yesterday from elsewhere, the second Red Bull Ring and Silverstone-races would take place on either on the Wednesday or Thursday following the first race, though. Furthermore, the French GP isn’t part of the plan for this year anymore, so it shouldn’t be included in the following paragraph:
”F1 then plans to move on to a further four races in Europe, at a yet-to-be confirmed selection of the tracks in Spain, Hungary, France, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands. There is also a possibility of a race in Germany at the Hockenheim track, even though that was not on the original 2020 schedule.”
– The Dutch GP looks quite unlikely for this year.
At present, there isn’t much point in considering new entries without there having been any racing thus far this year, LOL.
ColdFly (@)
11th May 2020, 8:49
@jerejj, could you please share your other sources.
I understood that initially there was a rough plan to have a mid week race, but that they moved away from that.
Lando Norris said last week in the post race (Super 8) interview that it will be more likely successive weekends.
Jere (@jerejj)
11th May 2020, 9:51
@coldfly
https://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-autosport/1280259/FIA-British-Grand-Prix-Lewis-Hamilton-Mercedes-F1-news
https://thejudge13.com/2020/05/10/fia-official-confirmation-austria-silverstone-races-go-ahead/
I first became aware of this plan by another user yesterday under this article:
https://www.racefans.net/2020/05/10/f1-one-of-the-hardest-sports-to-hold-amid-pandemic-webber/
ColdFly (@)
11th May 2020, 10:16
Thanks @jerejj.
thejudge13.com doesn’t seem to be loved here, but I haven’t seen them making stuff up.
Pironi the Provocateur (@pironitheprovocateur)
11th May 2020, 8:46
I think we might lose several venues due to the crisis. Spain is nearly guaranteed, they received only a one year contract for this season and had already financial issues before. Interlagos would be one of the next, and despite the popular sentiment it’s a good thing, the track is too short and obsolete for modern F1 cars. An ideal scenario would also see Paul Ricard and Shanghai drop but I doubt it will happen.
ColdFly (@)
11th May 2020, 8:53
“ Interlagos () is too short and obsolete for modern F1 cars.”
Didn’t know there was a minimum length of a track, and not sure in which way ‘obsolete’.
anon
11th May 2020, 12:23
I believe there is technically a limit on both the minimum and maximum length of the track, although the Monaco circuit does get an exemption (they also have an exemption from the minimum race distance). I believe it is partially for safety – the idea being to avoid cars returning to the scene of an accident too quickly for the minimum length, whilst the upper limit aims to avoid drivers being too far from medical aid.
As for being ‘obsolete’, Interlagos has had some problems in the past – there were problems with drainage that caused accidents, and the barriers in some parts of the track are borderline on safety, or technically below standard. The facilities have also been described as being a bit dilapidated in more recent years too, and a bit run down behind the scenes.
I would say that obsolete is a bit of an exaggeration, but it probably is fair to say that it is not in the best condition. The frequent problems with security have also raised questions about whether the race can be held safely in the future too.
ColdFly (@)
11th May 2020, 12:51
The strange snobbery about short tracks (Racefans.net)
“The pedantic response to this would be to point out that the FIA’s minimum length requirement for grand prix circuits is 3.5km, so the 4.3km Red Bull Ring is in full compliance. As is Brazil’s Interlagos, despite being 17m shorter than the Austrian track.”
Jere (@jerejj)
11th May 2020, 9:54
@pironitheprovocateur What about Monaco? The only place with a lap length less than 4 km. If Interlagos is ‘too short’ for F1 then so are Monaco, Red Bull Ring, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Zandvoort, and Hungaroring.
Pironi the Provocateur (@pironitheprovocateur)
11th May 2020, 11:20
Austria could also be longer, I wonder what happened to Red Bull’s plans to extend the track to the western part of former Österreichring. But while Austria is a really modern and up-to-date venue and we do not need to discuss the status and glamour of Monaco, Interlagos is an anachronism in the modern F1 calendar. Ancient facilities, set in a poor part of Sao Paulo, great in the times of Senna maybe, but a long time has passed since then. Extension to the former parts of the circuit would be awesome, but there’d be harly any money for it, the current track feels like a torso. These are my objections.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
11th May 2020, 14:34
I too don’t think Interlagos is ‘obsolete’. It definitely needs some money spending on it. It does usually produce quite an exciting race though. So keep it I say and improve it.
I agree though in that I think some of the current races may not continue for much longer. I am pretty sure that Liberty are keen to get another race in the U.S. whatever happens so I can see Miami getting the go ahead. I too am in the old school and would like the calendar to consist of 18 to 20 races. I think we all have to acknowledge though that Liberty’s business model is to have up to 25. Let’s hope they can incorporate some good, previously used circuits to increase the numbers e.g. Imola, Estoril?
Mario
20th May 2020, 23:13
Whenever you feel like questioning whether Interlagos should be terminated or not, see below for reference.
Thanks.
roodda (@roodda)
11th May 2020, 11:25
How is Silverstone going to go ahead? Seriously? Two countries in the world you would avoid right are the US and UK. How could the UK hold two races in a week, yet they have about 4,500 new cases per day with no sign of subsiding?
Jere (@jerejj)
11th May 2020, 13:12
@roodda Indeed. Somewhat weird this attempt considering the circumstances and the upcoming mandatory 14-day quarantine for people entering the UK.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
12th May 2020, 20:39
@roodda Because most of the people needed to hold a closed-door race are already in the UK, and the government’s opening-up of things looks like it will remove the “force majeure” factor. This significantly reduces the issues in what would otherwise be a non-starter idea.
armando
11th May 2020, 18:57
bring back reims