ORMULA One bosses will consider extending the 2020 season into 2021 in a bid to fit as many races as possible into the season.
FA new-look calendar is currently being worked on that will see races scheduled for the August summer break and through into December --or possibly even January -- City A.M. understands.
While F1 chief executive
Those races are now unlikely to be in their original order for logistical reasons, with the need to reschedule races across multiple continents set to necessitate an increase in events on consecutive weekends.
F1 last week moved the summer factory shutdown to 27 March to create more space in the calendar, and have also delayed the implementation of new technical regulations, planned for next year, until 2022.
Carey said the new schedule would "differ significantly" from the original calendar but added that the "potential for additional postponements" makes it difficult to give any clarity on what that schedule would look like at present. So far six races have officially been postponed, while the Australian and Monaco Grands Prix have instead been cancelled.
The action was not called off in
Should the season eventually be given the green light, it will be the first since 1954 not to include the blue riband event.
Despite initial criticism for its slow response, F1 has since proactively suspended the season for the foreseeable future.
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix in
But despite the ongoing disruption, there is a determination to fit an entire season in before the 2021 campaign begins -- even if that means putting on an eight-race season, reminiscent of F1's formative days in the 1950s and early 60s, sources have told City A.M. However, F1 chiefs are understood to be confident that such drastic measures will not be necessary and Carey announced on Monday that he was hopeful of there being as many as 18 races on the calendar for 2020.
One of the reasons that F1's owner
Anything less and there is a sliding scale in place that would see Sky pay F1 less than the around £120m per year agreed. The same applies to other broadcasters.
It is not yet clear which races, other than
Seven F1 teams with
Despite ongoing disruption, there is a determination to fit an entire season in before the next campaign
(c) 2020 City A.M., source