It has been announced that three more Formula 1 races have been cancelled from the 2020 schedule.
The races – Azerbaijan, Singapore and Japan – have been removed from the regular 2020 race schedule as a result of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. F1 organisers, however, remains confident of finalising a schedule of between 15 and 18 races for this year, amid interest from new venues not on the original calendar.
Earlier this week, an initial eight-race calendar in Europe was announced and there were expectations that a new full schedule would be published before the season begins in Austria on July 3-5 based, on an F1 statement released this week.
“We have made significant progress with existing and new promoters on the revised calendar and have been particularly encouraged by the interest that has been shown by new venues in hosting a Formula 1 race during the 2020 season,” the statement read.
Two of the latest events to be cancelled are street races.
Azerbaijan’s Baku circuit had been postponed from its original date of June 7 but has now been cancelled for this year completely.
Japan’s event at Suzuka had been due to run on October 11.
The announcement means that seven events from the original record 22 race calendar have now been cancelled altogether until next year. Four events – Bahrain, Vietnam, China and Canada – remain listed as postponed, although Bahrain is being rescheduled to stage at least one race in early December before the Abu Dhabi season finale.
