The Grands Prix in the US, Mexico, Brazil and Canada have been scrapped this year, but three races in Europe have been added to the virus-affected season, Formula One said on Friday.
There is to be an F1 debut for Portugal’s Portimao track and a return for Germany’s Nurburgring and Imola in Italy.
The US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, had been scheduled for Oct. 23, with a race in Mexico City a week later and Brazil on Nov. 13, but with COVID-19 infections rising in all of those countries, organizers have abandoned attempts to hold races there.
The race in Canada had originally been scheduled for June, but plans to hold it later in the season have been dropped due to Canadian travel restrictions.
The race at the Nurburgring circuit, which last saw F1 action in 2013, is to take place on Oct. 11.
F1 said that it still intended to hold between 15 and 18 races “and end in the Gulf in mid-December.”
The sport was hit hard by the pandemic, with the season postponed just hours before the opening practice of the traditional curtain raiser in Melbourne in March.
The season finally got underway this month with two races in Austria before moving to Hungary last weekend.
The next two races are to take place at Silverstone in England on Aug. 2 and Aug. 9.
All events so far have been behind closed doors.
“We are pleased that we continue to make strong progress in finalizing our plans for the 2020 season and are excited to welcome Nurburgring, Portimao and Imola to the revised calendar,” F1 chief executive Chase Carey said. “We also want to pay tribute to our incredible partners in the Americas and look forward to being back with them next season, when they will once again be able to thrill millions of fans around the world.”
Imola, whose race is to be on Nov. 1, last held an F1 race in 2006, while Portugal’s most recent grand prix was 24 years ago at Estoril, near Lisbon.
The Algarve circuit in the south of Portugal intends to welcome fans for the Oct. 25 race.
“There will be spectators,” Portuguese Secretary of State for Tourism Rita Marques said. “We are working on a number of scenarios depending on the health situation.”
Organizers of the Russian Grand Prix at Sochi on Sept. 27 have also said that they would allow fans to attend.
Revised 2020 F1 calendar:
‧ British Grand Prix: Aug. 2
‧ 70th Anniversary Grand Prix: Aug. 9
‧ Spanish Grand Prix: Aug. 16
‧ Belgian Grand Prix: Aug. 30
‧ Italian Grand Prix: Sept. 6
‧ Tuscan Grand Prix: Sept. 13
‧ Russian Grand Prix: Sept. 27
‧ Eifel Grand Prix: Oct. 11
‧ Portuguese Grand Prix: Oct. 25
‧ Emilie-Romagna Grand Prix: Nov. 1
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