Image: FORMULA 1
Formula One has released its preliminary schedule for the 2020 world championship, featuring 22 races for the first time in the sport’s history, including seven double-header weekends.
“The season with a record 22 Grands Prix has received unanimous support from the FIA and all the teams and clearly demonstrates the confidence that exists in the future of our sport, which with over 500 million fans remains one of the most followed and popular sports in the world,” the organization said in a press statement.
The 2020 calendar features two new venues, the first at Hanoi in Vietnam and the second at Zandvoort in the Netherlands. Unfortunately, one venue is again missing: Germany’s Hockenheim, which this year hosted one of the most memorable races of the decade.
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Image: FORMULA 1
Though fans do love to see more races, the record-breaking 22-race calendar has not been without criticism. Five-time champion Lewis Hamilton previously questioned the need to have a race in Vietnam rather than in other countries that have a more notable motorsport heritage, and it’s no secret that Zandvoort’s return to the calendar was an effort to tap into the massive Dutch fanbase that young superstar Max Verstappen brings to F1, rather than introduce a new circuit that actually produces good racing.
Meanwhile, the people involved in F1, who travel around the world almost every weekend, already lament the lack of available downtime. If you’re a world-class mechanic but also a family man, the sport is getting less attractive each time a new race is added to the calendar.
Experienced fans may also notice that the races at Zandvoort, Barcelona, and Monaco are all grouped together in the month of May. If you like overtaking in your motorsports, this might be the month to watch something else than F1.
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