'F1 wants to publish full calendar before first race'

At the moment eight races of the coming F1 season are known and confirmed, but what will happen after that is still to be seen. With the cancellation of the Grands Prix in Japan, Azerbaijan and Singapore, three races will be cancelled again, where the goal is still fifteen races or more this season.

Before the end of June

Chase Carey of Liberty Media has indicated that the goal is to have clarity about the rest of the season before the end of June. Since the corona situation varies a lot from country to country, it is difficult to set up a complete schedule in the short term. That's why Chase spoke of a goal instead of a deadline.

Nevertheless, from a competitive perspective it is important to have everything concrete as soon as possible. That is also the goal, says journalist Chris Medland on Twitter: "F1 aims to publish its full calendar before Austria (or at least at the first race)." This for the simple reason that participants need to know what the competition looks like.

After all, it is appreciated for drivers to know exactly how many races they have to drive, where and when, because that gives them perspective. "There's a major sporting aspect to knowing exactly what the structure is of the competition you're competing in," says Medland.

As the pandemic is creating uncertainty, it is too early to be concrete, but for the sake of the sport and the drivers, the certainty cannot come quickly enough.