The 'realistic' calendar for 2020: fifteen races to retain valid TV contracts

Whereas one-day events such as the Indy 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans have already planned a new date, the course of the F1 season 2020 remains shrouded in mists for the time being. That's because it's likely that the whole season will be turned upside down if people want to race at all.

At least that's what renowned motorsport journalist Michael Schmidt of Auto Motor und Sport thinks. Ross Brawn and Jean Todt indicated earlier this week that three GP's a month is possible, but probably not racing in January. Schmidt comes to the conclusion that realistically about fifteen races can be held between July and December.

Singapore is the only GP that cannot be moved

This is an important number, because if there are fewer races, the contracts for the TV rights will have to be renegotiated. In order to make this calendar of fifteen races possible, many Grands Prix that are currently on the agenda need to be postponed so that this is logistically feasible. That should not be a problem in theory. The only race that cannot be postponed is the Singapore GP, because of the construction of the street circuit.

Schmidt's season is divided into three blocks. We will start in July in Europe, because all teams are already there and traffic between the countries there will be opened first. Then we move to Asia in September, to finally finish the season with a series of American and Arab races. The calendar with the possible races then looks like this: