Michael Schumacher, Mercedes, Mugello, 2012

Mugello among possible venues for extra European F1 races – Brawn

2020 F1 season

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Formula 1 could hold more than eight races in Europe this year and Italy’s Mugello circuit is among the possible venues, the series’ motorsport director Ross Brawn has told RaceFans.

As revealed yesterday, Formula 1 has approached the Tuscan circuit about potentially holding a race this year. The Ferrari-owned track would be the venue for the team’s 1,000th appearance in a world championship race, following the Italian Grand Prix in September.

Speaking to RaceFans in an exclusive interview last week, Brawn said the necessity to hold races behind closed doors due to the pandemic has presented the opportunity to consider racing at tracks which weren’t originally on the 2020 F1 calendar.

“The model, if you like, for these European races, because they’re without fans, has to be different than a model we’ve used in the past,” he said. “So that means there’s more scope to go to different venues. Mugello, Hockenheim, Imola, Jerez: There’s been various places that are possibilities and we will look at those.

“All of those races could be done relatively short-notice because when you don’t have fans there you don’t have ticket sales, you don’t have all the complication that’s involved. And when you’re dealing with a permanent circuit then of course it’s relatively quick to turn it on. When you’ve got to build a circuit that’s a completely different situation. So I think there’s a nice group of quite exciting European circuits that could be utilised if we have one drop out.”

A race at Mugello could become a possibility if Singapore is unable to hold its race on September 20th. The promoters of the Marina Bay race have indicated they will not hold their race behind closed doors or postpone it.

Formula 1 announced last week it will begin its delayed season with eight races in Europe. Further races are possible, said Brawn. “It’s not the plan at the moment but it could be,” he said.

“I’m not saying it won’t happen, but that’s not the plan. Plan A is eight races in Europe and we hope that in the next near period we’ll be able to set out what our overseas races will be.”

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24 comments on “Mugello among possible venues for extra European F1 races – Brawn”

  1. I know overtaking will be difficult at some of these tracks but if 2020 is the opportunity to go back to some of the classics mentioned, I am 100% supportive. I personally think F1 have missed a trick in only going to Silverstone… imagine Brands Hatch or Donnington putting on a race. One can dream…

    1. Pipedream, neither have a full grade license do they?

      Portimao, Jerez, Hockenheim, Mugello, Imola are all possibilities though

    2. Won’t happen i’m afraid – they’ll still require a Grade 1 licence to run an F1 event.

      1. If there are no fans….they can get round the Grade 1 licence requirements with special dispensation for a one off event….

        1. pastaman (@)
          10th June 2020, 1:03

          Grade 1 is for the safety of the drivers, not the spectators

  2. That sounds great! A proper old-school track: fast corners and lots of gravel traps

    Imola sounds great too, but I’d prefer Mugello.

  3. Willem Cecchi (@)
    9th June 2020, 13:11

    Magny-Cours!

  4. Mugello right after Monza is possible on September 13, but after that (from Sep 27 and beyond) North Europe is going to get colder. Hockenheim might be a strech, it would have made more sense to put it in August. The only possible alternatives for late September-October i think are Portugal (Estoril, Algavre) and Spain (Jerez, Aragon?). France said no motorsport and Imola although it would be cool, i doubt if we get 3 races in Italy.

    Other than that we will definately go to the Middle East for 2-3 races. The Americas is a tough equation and so is Asia in general. Maybe aside from the current venues (China, Japan, Vietnam) some of the Asian tracks that used to host races (Korea, India, Malaysia) could be persuaded to stage an one-off if their countries allow it.

    1. Hockenheim holds the DTM season final in October every year. There is a chance of 20+ degrees celsius. But also for a rain shower or two…
      So why exclude to possibility of racing there especially when there are no spectators involved.

      1. @zomtec DTM cars are designed to be able to race even in torrential rain and snow, F1 cars are not, conditions matter. I’m not saying Hockenheim is out of the question, i would definately like for F1 to race there even in October, but there is a reason why Silverstone, Spa, Hockenheim and other circuits in North Europe are always sceduled to take place in the summer-maybe September.

        1. One reason for having races during periods of pleasant weather are the fans which don’t need to be considered in 2020 plannings.

          1. Sole exception is Spa, because everyone always hopes it’ll rain there, just for added challenge for the drivers.

    2. China and Vietnam are most likely in Asia to happen as they have the fewest COVID-19 cases in the past month. Singapore local government originally promised on 30 May to give an update whether the Singapore GP would happen by “next week” which ended on 7 June, yet no news so far so I suspect it’s off.

      1. @kichi-leung Im afraid its a little more complicated than that. Things like political atmosphere come into play, its not that simple.

  5. This all does make me wonder about the future. Maybe Ross and Liberty have finally latched onto the idea that if they want to expand the F1 calendar going forward, it might be a good idea to do this by using circuits with some history or reputation and that fans might want to attend. This instead of creating new circuits in places were there is little or no interest.

    Maybe if they do hold any one-off races at circuits that don’t form part of the calendar, they might consider these as future expansion opportunities in years to come? Especially if the feedback they get from drivers and teams is positive.

    It all makes good sense but then this is F1…

  6. What about Brno? Isn’t it up to F1 specs? I seem to remember seeing it on a list of tracks for an alternate World Championship. That is tracks not on the current schedule that are up to F1 specs. The Czechs also took care of covid as well as anybody.

    1. Brno could host a watchable race.

    2. Brno isn’t grade 1 certified.

  7. So this would be sanctioned as what? The Grand Prix of Tuscany?

    1. After Liberty gave us Stiermark GP and 70th Anniversary GP, I think they can be trusted to come up with creative names once the venue and date are confirmed.

      1. “1000th Ferrari Anniversary European GP of Tuscany” :P

  8. San Marino Grand Prix. It’s not too far from the country even though Imola is little closer.

  9. Annoyingly, everywhere is said the races will be without fans, but that is not official. So ticket companies won’t refund GP-tickets bought months ago until they have an official statement and refund policy from the tracks/FIA/Liberty.

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