F1 confirms 17 races on 2020 F1 calendar including Istanbul and two races in Bahrain

2020 F1 calendar

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The 2020 Formula 1 season will feature at least 17 races after the championship confirmed details of four further rounds on this year’s calendar.

The original 22-race schedule was heavily disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to the cancellation or postponement of the opening 10 rounds. As RaceFans revealed last week, the latest races to be confirmed on the schedule include a return to Istanbul Park in Turkey, plus a pair of races at the Bahrain International Circuit ahead of the finale at Yas Marina.

The last three races on the schedule will run as a triple-header on consecutive weekends. The second Bahrain race will be officially called the Sakhir Grand Prix.

F1 has not confirmed whether different configurations of the Bahrain track will be used for these two races. The championship is believed to be considering the possibility of using the shorter ‘Outer’ circuit for the second race.

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is expected to be the season finale. But while F1 confirmed the cancellation of the Chinese Grand Prix, the status of the inaugural Vietnam Grand Prix remains unclear. The race was originally due to take place in Hanoi in April, but does not feature on the schedule. An official update on the status of the race is expected soon.

“We are proud to announce that Turkey, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi will be part of our 2020 season,” said F1 chairman and CEO Chase Carey.

“This year has presented Formula 1 and the world with an unprecedented challenge and we want to pay tribute to everyone across Formula 1, the FIA, the teams, and our partners who have made this possible.

“While we are all disappointed that we have not been able to return to some of our planned races this year we are confident our season has started well and will continue to deliver plenty of excitement with traditional, as well as new, races that will entertain all our fans.”

Formula 2 will support F1’s two races in Bahrain, completing its 24-race schedule.

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2020 F1 calendar dates confirmed so far

RoundRaceDate
1Austrian Grand PrixJul 3-5
2Styrian Grand PrixJul 10-12
3Hungarian Grand PrixJul 17-19
4British Grand PrixJul 31-Aug 2
570th Anniversary Grand PrixAug 7-9
6Spanish Grand PrixAug 14-16
7Belgian Grand PrixAug 28-30
8Italian Grand PrixSep 4-6
9Tuscan Ferrari 1000 Grand Prix

Sep 11-13
10Russian Grand PrixSep 25-27
11Eifel Grand PrixOct 9-11
12Portuguese Grand PrixOct 23-25
13Emilia-Romagna Grand PrixOct 30-Nov 1
14Turkish Grand PrixNov 13-15
15Bahrain Grand PrixNov 27-29
16Sakhir Grand PrixDec 4-6
17Abu Dhabi Grand PrixDec 11-13

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2020 F1 season

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Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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34 comments on “F1 confirms 17 races on 2020 F1 calendar including Istanbul and two races in Bahrain”

  1. I’m really excited to see Istanbul Park back on the calendar. Tilke’s best work. Hope it’s a great race and not the last there.

  2. Perhaps for a change they could run Abu Dhabi using the other pits as the start / finish.

    1. @StephenH That’s reserved for the support categories, and too small for F1 anyway.

    2. What would be the point in that?

      1. I’d imagine the hope was for a change to a pretty boring layout that stifles overtaking.

        If possible they should open up and make wider the entry to the hairpin and also the apex that precedes it, maybe as well as the exit of the hairpin actually..

        The left right left complex after the second straight could also do with some work to allow battles to continue for longer. As it is right now, it funnels the cars too much and largely brings to an end any ongoing battles that approach it..

        These are fairly simple fixes but shame they never tried them.

        1. What do you think Keith?

  3. That’s there are as many as seventeen is more than we could have hoped for.

  4. Istanbul could easily be very cold in mid-November, average of 11C apparently, might be interesting.

    1. @bernasaurus Or still warm as last year it was 20s for most of the month including the 13th, 14th, and 15th. https://www.accuweather.com/en/tr/istanbul/318251/november-weather/318251?year=2019
      I’m not really worried about Istanbul Park in the middle of November. I’m more worried about Nurburgring in the first half of October than I’m about Istanbul a little over a month later or Imola around the end-of-October/beginning-of-November.

      1. @jerejj yeah you’re right, both could be very interesting.

      2. @jerejj where exactly is that particular weather centre located though – near the circuit itself, or is it within the city of Istanbul? I am wondering whether the station you are using might be located within the city, which might result in a slightly misleading picture given the urban heat island effect would slightly raise the ambient temperature.

        As others have previously pointed out to you, last year’s data is misleading as long term ambient temperatures are not normally around 20ºC in November. Long term average temperatures for November in Istanbul are more normally between about 12-16ºC, with 15ºC being a more normal maximum daytime temperature in mid-November (based on data for the Sabiha Gökçen airport, which sits on the eastern side of the Bosphorus).

        Furthermore, there would also need to be consideration given to the effects of altitude, as Istanbul Park is around 750m above sea level. I believe a rough rule of thumb is that the ambient air temperature generally falls by about 1ºC for an increase in altitude of 300m (or about 1000ft) – so, even if the ambient air temperature was 20ºC at sea level in Istanbul itself, those same conditions would suggest a temperature of about 17.5ºC at the elevation of Istanbul Park. If it were closer to 15ºC in Istanbul itself, then the circuit could be closer to 12-13ºC peak daytime temperatures.

        1. Furthermore, there would also need to be consideration given to the effects of altitude, as Istanbul Park is around 750m above sea level. I believe a rough rule of thumb is that the ambient air temperature generally falls by about 1ºC for an increase in altitude of 300m (or about 1000ft)

          That’s wrong, as I learned from skydiving it’s double that – 2ºC drop per 1000ft (330m) or around 6ºC per 1000m. So it assuming the 750m altitude of the track is accurate then it would be reasonable to assume that the temps in the city would be around 5ºC warmer.

          1. And that’s before you factor in urban heat islands and from what I remember the circuit is in the middle of nowhere.

    2. wait till you see some hoarfrost on the track at imola for FP1 come end october, don’t exlude some snow even

      1. @alfa145 There isn’t going to be snow on the ground. The daytime temps are from around 15 C to around 20 C at that time of the year.

  5. As I expected after the recent news, and I could also foresee the title for the 2nd Bahrain event, although alternatively, it could be Southern Governate GP, Sakhir is shorter.

  6. Glad to see Turkey back

    1. Won’t be for long as it’s 2 weeks before Thanksgiving.
      @paeschli

  7. I think the 2nd race in Bahrain is unneeded, They have a 16 race season without it which is plenty & should still have met all the requirements to make it a full season for both the FIA & Broadcasters.

    I’m not as down on the Bahrain circuit as others have been over the years but it’s still not a circuit I feel like I want to see 2 races at 2 weeks in a row. If they really wanted to hit 17 races why not look at other venues in the region that haven’t hosted an F1 race before, Dubai Autodrome for instance.

    1. I guess because it’s easier. i love Bahrain. maybe they can do one night race and one day race, i’d love that too

      1. one day and one night would be amazing

      2. @nickthegreek @Sharaf Sharaf Unlikely to happen because firstly, Sunday is a working day in Bahrain (and the Middle East in general for that matter), and this was one of the reasons it became a floodlit race in the first place, as well as to have it on a cooler phase of the day. The existence of the floodlighting infrastructure could be questioned if they weren’t used for their intended purpose. I hope the pattern for the respective session start times for FP2, QLF, and the race (the sessions that take place under artificial lighting) would be as follows:
        Bahrain I: 17:00-17:00-17:10
        Bahrain II: 17:00-17:00-16:10 (so that the other race would be like the Abu Dhabi GP in that it’d commence when the sun is a few degrees above the horizon thus giving the day-night transition effect), but at the very least 17:00-17:00-17:10 for both events preferably than the same as in March and April because of the sunset times being 16:45 (16:46 for December 6) around the end-of-November/beginning-of-December in Bahrain.

    2. it’s still not a circuit I feel like I want to see 2 races at 2 weeks in a row

      Well you don’t have to see it, do you? lol. Just don’t, simples! Give yourself that 16-race season.

      1. @zann Not missed a race live since the start of 1995 & don’t plan to start now even though that is something that feels a bit like a chore at times with the more recent 20+ race seasons.

        For me the season… The championship is like a TV series with each race been a different episode (Or a book with each race been a different chapter). You miss one episode/chapter & you potentially miss a big part of the overall story. Yes you can just catch the results or highlights but you still end up missing some small detail which may end up been important at the end somewhere down the field.

        That’s why with other categories that I don’t always catch live if I miss one race I don’t watch the next until i’ve caught up, I just don’t like watching stuff out of order.

        1. Yes me too I never ever miss an F1 race and it’s a story with a sequence of chapters as you say. I was just teasing a tiny bit with you suggesting NOT having an F1 race when we could:) It’s a different circuit even, and that outer circuit will be quite interesting I think.

          And only Abu Dhabi to follow, and that IS a circuit to complain about: all that money and scope and they come up with that hopeless layout, and don’t improve it even when Martin Whitmarsh said they know how, that tight chicane at the end of the main straight.

    3. I guess they wanted to have some overflow for caution, just in case one of the remaining rounds drops out last minute, which is not to exclude (if indeed 16 is the minimum required number of races to call it a championship)

      1. @alfa145 No, eight is the minimum required for a season to qualify for the world championship, while 15 (not 16) is the minimum requirement to fulfil the TV-contracts to the maximum extent.

  8. Why in the wide world of sports is the race in Russia still on!?
    Will the teams be safe from the Putin 2020 virus?

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/prominent-russian-opposition-activist-navalny-was-poisoned-german-doctors-say/2020/08/24/c0ac970e-e606-11ea-bf44-0d31c85838a5_story.html

    Enough already, grow a pair, take a stand and screw them.

  9. I was excited at the last calendar additions announcement, this one with F1’s worst kept secret leaves me feeling completely meh. Abu Dhabi the season-closer. Again…

    Two races in Belgium would’ve been awesome, if this was possible.

    1. The title ill be wrapped up well before Abu Dhabi, don’t worry

  10. no jerez ahhhh why 2 races ibahrain

    1. Probably because they are making an absolute mess of Covid-19 again in Spain……

      And Bahrain will be two different layouts anyway, so don’t be so negetive. Be glad we can watch 17 races this years.

  11. Luis Miguel Martínez
    25th August 2020, 21:23

    Crap i was hoping we would get rid of Abu Dhabi

  12. I’m impressed that they managed this, it’s quite something that 17 races are on the calender, shame the Russia gp is still on though, yaawwwn

Comments are closed.