► Disruption to car events across the globe
► F1 is back!
► American events less affected
People might be staring at blank pages in their social diaries for now, but at least Formula 1 is back.
Motorsport’s largest circus (F1) kicked back into life on the 3rd July with the Austrian Grand Prix. But it’s not all rosy – there have been multiple cancellations. At least Turkey is back after a nine-year hiatus.
Formula E also took the brave step to conclude its championship with six races in nine days at Tempelhof Airport in Berlin.
Meanwhile, away from the glitz, glamour, and gluttony of the Formulas, grassroots motorsport is looking up in the UK. The BTCC season, among others, has begun.
UK car sales drop 97% in coronavirus pandemic
Can’t be bothered reading the whole article? Click the links below to see how different race series and events are dealing with the coronavirus:
Car events cancelled by coronavirus
Events across Europe and America are being cancelled at an alarming rate, as organisers react to lockdowns and public health warnings. Here we round up the car meets and events that hundreds of thousands of you were looking forward to:
Geneva Motor Show 5-15 March, cancelled. Read the full story on the cancellation of everyone’s favourite motor show here
Donington Historic Festival 24 March, postponed (new date unknown)
Techno Classica Essen 25-29 March, postponed to 7-11 April 2021
Goodwood Members’ Meeting 28-29 March, postponed to 10-11 April 2021 (provisionally)
Coventry MotoFest 6-7 June, postponed to 4-6 June 2021
Detroit Motor Show 16-26 June, cancelled. Full details about NAIAS cancellation here
Bicester Super Scramble 23 June, cancelled
Yorkshire Motorsport Festival 26-28 June, postponed to 25-27 June 2021
Goodwood Festival of Speed (above) 9-12 July, cancelled
Goodwood Revival 11-13 September, cancelled
Paris motor show 1-11 October, cancelled. Full story here
Le Mans Classic 2-5 July, postponed to 1-4 July 2021
Formula 1
The Formula 1 calendar for this season has finally been confirmed.
Turkey will return to the roster for the first time in nine years. While Bahrain will host back-to-back GPs like the UK and Austria did. With Abu Dhabi confirmed for the 13 December, it means the sport’s calendar runs to 17 races in total.
A statement from Formula 1 said: “We can confirm that Turkey, Bahrain (hosting two races), and Abu Dhabi will be part of the revised season and want to express our thanks to the hard work of all our promoters and partners in making this 17-race season possible.”
The latest casualty is China, which has been officially cancelled. While it seems Vietnam’s new street circuit looks set to get in the bin as well. Other cancelled events include all of the North and South American events, plus the Azerbaijan, Singapore, Japan, Dutch, and Canada GPs.
Chase Carey, Chairman and CEO of Formula 1, said: “This year has presented Formula 1 and the world with an unprecedented challenge and we want to pay tribute to everyone across Formula 1, the FIA, the teams, and our partners who have made this possible.
“While we are all disappointed that we have not been able to return to some of our planned races this year we are confident our season has started well and will continue to deliver plenty of excitement with traditional, as well as new, races that will entertain all our fans.”
2020 F1 calendar
COMPLETED: Austrian GP 3-5 July and 10-12 July
COMPLETED Hungarian GP 17-19 July
COMPLETED Great Britain GP 31 July-2 August and 7-9 August
COMPLETED Spanish GP 14-16 August
Belgian GP 28-30 August
Italian GP Monza 4-6 September Mugello 11-13 September
Russian GP 25-27 September
German GP (Nurburgring) 9-11 October
Portugese GP – 23-25 October
Italian GPs (Imola) – 31 October – 1 November
Turkish GP – 13-15 November
Bahrain GP – 27-29 November and 4-6 December
UAE GP – 11-13 December
British Touring Car Championship (BTCC)
The British Touring Car Championship kicked off at Donington Park, in what is a drastically reshaped schedule.
BTCC Calendar
COMPLETED: Donington Park 1-2 August
COMPLETED: Brands Hatch 8-9 August
COMPLETED: Oulton Park 22-23 August
Knockhill 29-30 August
Thruxton 19-20 September
Silverstone 26-27 September
Croft 10-11 October
Snetterton 24-25 October
Brands Hatch 14-15 November
Formula E
Formula E resumed racing in August in what was one of the oddest events ever seen on a calendar. There were six races in nine days, held at one venue – the Tempelhof Airport in Berlin.
COMPLETED: Berlin ePrix 5 August, 6 August, 8 August, 9 August, 12 August, 13 August
World Endurance Championship (WEC)
The big news here is that the Le Mans 24 Hours has moved from June to September 2020. And the 6 hours of Spa has been postponed, too. The revised calendar for the series is being worked on at the moment and we aim to update this story once we know more. But this does mean that next year’s season, which sees the introduction of the new hypercar category, will be delayed, organisers pledge:
6 Hours of Spa 25 April, postponed (new date unknown)
Le Mans 24 Hours 13-14 June, postponed to 19-20 September
World Rally Championship (WRC)
At present, it looks like only five more rallies will go ahead this year, but organisers are looking to add some European events to bolster the crumbling calendar.
So far, Sebastian Ogier (Toyota) leads Elfyn Evans (Toyota) and Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) respectively:
COMPLETED: Rallye Monte Carlo – 23-26 January
COMPLETED: Rally Sweden – 13-16 February
COMPLETED: Rally Mexico – 12-15 March
Rally Estonia 4-6 September
Rally Turkey 18-20 September
Rallye Deutschland 15-18 October
Rally Italia 29 October-1 November
Rally Belgium 19-22 November
IndyCar
Initially penned to start racing with no spectators, the virus reached a point where IndyCar officials took the decision to postpone the start of the season. Since then, things have been running smoothly.
COMPLETED: Genesys 300, Texas Motor Speedway 6 June
COMPLETED: GMR Grand Prix, Indianapolis Motor Speedway 4-5 July
COMPLETED: Rev Group, Road America 11-12 July
COMPLETED: Iowa Indycar 250S, Iowa Speedway, Race 1 17 July
COMPLETED: Iowa Indycar 250S, Iowa Speedway, Race 2 18 July
COMPLETED: Indy 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway 23 August
Bommarito Automotive, World Wide Technology Raceway, Race 1 29 August
Bommarito Automotive, World Wide Technology Raceway, Race 2 30 August
Indycar Harvest GP, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Race 1 2 October
Indycar Harvest GP, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Race 2 3 October
Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Streets of St. Petersburg, 25 October
Nascar (cup series)
A lot of Nascar races, aren’t there? The season opener was pushed back by nearly a month, but organisers have assured fans that all 36 races will indeed be completed this season:
COMPLETED: Daytona 9 February
COMPLETED: Daytona 13 February
COMPLETED: Daytona 13 February
COMPLETED: Daytona 500 17 February
COMPLETED: Las Vegas 23 February
COMPLETED: Auto Club Speedway 1 March
COMPLETED: Phoenix Raceway 8 March
COMPLETED: Darlington Raceway 17 May
COMPLETED: Darlington Raceway 20 May
COMPLETED: Charlotte Motor Speedway 24 May
COMPLETED: Charlotte Motor Speedway 28 May
COMPLETED: Bristol Motor Speedway 31 May
COMPLETED: Atlanta Motor Speedway 7 June
COMPLETED: Martinsville Speedway 10 June
COMPLETED: Homestead-Miami Speedway 14 June
COMPLETED: Talladega Superspeedway 22 June
COMPLETED: Pocono Raceway 27 June
COMPLETED: Pocono Raceway 28 June
COMPLETED: Indianapolis Motor Speedway 5 July
COMPLETED: Kentucky Speedway 12 July
COMPLETED: Bristol Motor Speedway 15 July
COMPLETED: Bristol Motor Speedway 15 July
COMPLETED: Texas Motor Speedway 19 July
COMPLETED: Kansas Speedway 23 July
COMPLETED: New Hampshire Motor Speedway 2 August
COMPLETED: Michigan International Speedway 8 August
COMPLETED: Michigan International Speedway 9 August
COMPLETED: Daytona International Speedway Road Course 16 August
COMPLETED: Dover International Speedway 22 August
COMPLETED: Dover International Speedway 23 August
Daytona International Speedway 29 August
Darlington Raceway 6 September
Richmond Raceway 12 September
Bristol Motor Speedway 19 September
Las Vegas Motor Speedway 27 September
Talladega Superspeedway 4 October
Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course 11 October
Kansas Speedway 18 October
Texas Motor Speedway 25 October
Martinsville Speedway 1 November
Phoenix Raceway 8 November
Further reading: coronavirus and the car world
More on the car industry and the effect of coronavirus
How to request a payment holiday if you’ve bought a car on finance
Covid-19 brings a six-month suspension of MoT tests
Why car makers are scrambling to build medical ventilators