Imola’s F1 return will be as two-day grand prix
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As expected, F1 chiefs announced on Friday that it has abandoned plans to race in the Americas this year, and instead extra events have been scheduled for the Nurburgring, Portimao and Imola.
The Nurburgring will host the Eifel Grand Prix on October 11, with the Portuguese Grand Prix running on October 25 as a back-to-back with the Emilia Romagna GP on November 1.
With there being a 2,400km distance between the Portimao circuit in the Algarve, and Imola in Italy, F1 has decided to give teams an extra day’s leeway for travel and will run the latter event over just Saturday and Sunday.
It is not clear yet what format will be taken for practice and qualifying, with discussions set to continue with the FIA.
F1 is also set to allow a limited number of fans for the Portuguese Grand Prix. While the venue will not be filled to capacity, it is hoping that it can allow tens of thousands of spectators in.
The addition of the Nurburgring, Portimao and Imola means that F1 now has 13 confirmed races for 2020, with the season set to finish in December with a double header in Bahrain followed by a finale in Abu Dhabi.
Those races alone will be enough to fulfil the 15-race minimum requirement that F1 needs to fulfil its television contracts.
However, there remains a chance that an additional event in Asia can be slotted in for November – either in Vietnam or in Malaysia.
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2020 Formula 1 calendar (first 13 rounds only) Date Venue July 5 Red Bull Ring, Austria July 12 Red Bull Ring, Austria July 19 Hungaroring, Hungary August 2 Silverstone, Britain August 9 Silverstone, Britain August 16 Barcelona, Spain August 30 Spa, Belgium September 6 Monza, Italy September 13 Mugello, Italy September 27 Sochi, Russia October 11 Nurburgring, Germany October 25 Portimao, Portugal November 1 Imola, Italy