One of the suggested plans for safely going ahead with an F1 Championship this year is 5 races held behind closed doors in the UK, which is the base for most of the F1 teams. All 5 races in the season would be at Silverstone, on the same circuit.
Using shorter versions of the Silverstone track, or running races in the opposite direction have all been suggested but have been ruled out because the replacement of safety barriers and run off would take too much time
(which seems a large design failing)
Five races held at the same track is unlikely to do a (currently) dull sport many favours. If health is being put at risk the 2020 season it has to be worth it.
Luckily the UK does have a ridiculously large number of racing circuits, some of which are still used for World Championship level racing. Donnington, home to British motorcycling and recently refurbished for Formula E, should be used as an alternative to Silverstone. Donnington was the venue for an epic European Grand Prix in 1993 that saw one of Senna’s classic races – the famous first Lap Of The Gods.
One of the reasons Donnington has been sidelined as an F1 circuit in recent years now makes it more suitable for hosting events in the fan-less situation we have in 2020. Donnington has been prioritised as a motorcycle racing circuit because of lack of road access for fans arriving by car. If the races are held behind closed doors this won’t be a problem. In fact that suddenly becomes a safety feature!
What about Brands Hatch? Historic Brands Hatch has not been used for F1 since 1986. but if fan safety is now not a consideration, is Brands really more dangerous than Monaco? Brands Hatch is often cited as too cramped and old fashioned but F1 chooses to accommodate Monaco – why not re purpose that event and hold it at the safer short Brands Hatch Indy circuit? Last year Brands hosted F3, GT and Formula 1 Masters events. Worth remembering the 1986 race, on the Brands GP Circuit, featured the full flavoured turbo era cars, the most powerful F1 cars in the sports history.
If we are prepared to be flexible in this time of crisis there are also other alternatives. The organisers at Zandvoort have ruled out running the race behind closed doors but Spa is not a million miles from Silverstone. Red Bull Ring and Monza should really be included also but if we are determined for good safety reasons to hold the entire 2020 F1 season in the UK why not the following;
Our Proposed 2020 F1 Schedule
This is far from an ideal solution, but preferable to five races at the same circuit
- 2020 Season opener – Silverstone
- 2020 ‘Monaco’ GP – Brands Hatch Indy Circuit
- European GP 1 – Donnington Park
- European GP 2 – Donnington Park (2 races over the same weekend)
- 2020 Season conclusion – Silverstone
If the political will had been there we might also now have the Circuit of Wales
That appears to have been indefinitely postponed
not by Coronovirus
but by
wait for it
Brexit !
What I want to know is how has Italy managed to get three Grand Prix at its two historic F1 tracks (Monza and Imola) plus a race at its top bike track while UK that has far more constructors based there only got two GPs at Silverstone, stupidly and most boringly held consecutively.
If Italy is entitled to three Grand Prix then clearly the UK should also have been and given no crowds or traffic management issues they could have been held at Silverstone, Brands Hatch and Donington Park.
The Italians have achieved this outcome with three different tracks used spread out in time across the season but we in the UK only managed one track for two races.
Also no spectators all allowed rather than say 10% or 20% of the usual numbers as seems to have been allowed in Sochi and one or two other circuits……….
Seem to be something very wrong somewhere.
Anyway well done to this website for identifying and discussing the issue re which tracks F1 has decided to use for this year’s hugely altered season.