This year, the coronavirus caused the entire Formula 1 calendar to be turned upside down. Not only were many races cancelled, but hardly any were driven outside of Europe. CEO Chase Carey expects the calendar to return to normal in 2021.
Global sport
Australia, China, Azerbaijan, Canada, United States, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, Singapore, the Netherlands, Monaco and France all lost their place on the calendar. In addition, the Vietnam Grand Prix was never officially cancelled or moved. It was mainly races in Europe that took its place. "The reality is that we haven't really raced globally this year," says Casey to Racefans.net. "So we want to make sure we have our races in America and Asia again. That's important for us as a global sport.”
Closer to normal
Work is already underway on the 2021 calendar, which will largely resemble the initially planned 2020 calendar, but there are still some problems to be solved, according to Casey. "We have only recently solved the problems around 2020. So all these things have caused delays." The uncertainties surrounding the coronavirus and what the impact of that will be on 2021 also make it difficult. "We plan to organise events and have a season of which I don't know if it will be 'normal', but it will certainly take us back to normal.”