Formula One boss Chase Carey says the championship has growing faith in its plans to host a 15- to 18-race season starting in Europe during the summer.
Following Monday's news that the French Grand Prix has been cancelled, F1 boss Chase Carey issued a statement on the status of the current season, which has been delayed indefinitely by the coronavirus pandemic. The opening 10 races have been postponed or cancelled.
Carey said the Austrian GP at the Red Bull Ring on July 3-5 is a feasible starting point for the 2020 campaign. F1 has targeted the summer as its starting point for several months and Carey said he is "increasingly confident" in the series' plan.
Carey's statement also said F1 expects "the early races to be without fans", although the hope is this changes further into the schedule.
How the F1 scheduled has been affected so far:
March 15: Australian GP (cancelled)
March 22: Bahrain GP (postponed)
April 3: Vietnam GP (postponed)
April 19: Chinese GP (postponed)
May 3: Dutch GP (postponed)
May 10: Spanish GP (postponed)
May 24: Monaco GP (cancelled)
June 7: Azerbaijan GP (postponed)
June 14: Canadian GP (postponed)
June 28: French GP (cancelled)
How the rest of the original 2020 schedule looked:
July 5 - Austrian GP
July 19 - British GP
Aug. 2 - Hungarian GP
Aug. 30 - Belgian GP
Sept. 6 - Italian GP
Sept. 20 - Singapore GP
Sept. 27 - Russian GP
Oct. 11 - Japanese GP
Oct. 25 - U.S. GP
Nov. 1 - Mexican GP
Nov. 15 - Brazilian GP
Nov. 29 - Abu Dhabi GP
This month Austria loosened lockdown restrictions by allowing thousands of shops to open, although people are still being encouraged to work from home where possible. The Austrian GP takes place at the Red Bull Ring outside the remote town of Spielberg, which has 5,000 residents.
F1 and the Red Bull Ring have already discussed the prospect of a behind-closed-doors event. On Monday, the British Grand Prix (July 19) also confirmed to ticket holders of this year's event that the race will be held behind closed doors, if it is able to go ahead at all.
Carey said F1 will release its revised 2020 calendar as soon as it is able to.
The series hopes to race in Europe from July until early September, before heading to Eurasia, Asia and the Americas through September, October and November.
F1 hopes to finish the season with December races in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi. Carey is sticking to his prediction of a 15- to 18-race season.