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Brawn outlines plan to accommodate rescheduled races
Formula 1’s summer break could be cancelled in order to reschedule postponed races, and two-day race weekends are an option to ease the workload, according to the sport’s managing director of motorsports Ross Brawn.
The first four rounds of the 2020 season have been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, and races in May are also under threat as F1 and the FIA currently expect a delay of at least two months. The sporting regulations state all teams must have a mandatory two-week shutdown in August – originally designed to release the pressure on a hectic calendar running from March to November – but with the need to reschedule races, Brawn said that break is likely to be removed.
“Maybe we take a hiatus, we take a pause – and then we use that opportunity to say right, for this time at the beginning of the year we won't have any races, we'll look at relocating those races later in the year," Brawn told Sky Sports.
“I think by freeing up the August break, we give ourselves several weekends where we can have a race. And I think we can build a pretty decent calendar for the rest of the year. It will look different, but it will still preserve a good number of races, and they're exciting races. So the season's going to start later, but I think it will be just as entertaining.
“I'm pretty optimistic that we can have a good 17-18 race championship or more. I think we can squeeze them in. But it depends on when the season will start.”
Trying to include so many races in a short timeframe could lead to triple headers, something the teams have been opposed to since running France-Austria-Great Britain on consecutive weekends last year. To combat that challenge, Brawn says the race weekends themselves could be compressed, if the teams agree.
“One thing we have been talking about is two-day weekends, and therefore if we have a triple header with two-day weekends, that could be an option.
“I think what we need from the teams this year is flexibility, I think they've got to give some scope to do these things. Because we are in very unusual circumstances, and we've got to make sure we've got a season that gives a good economic opportunity for the teams.
“For sure we're going to have a quiet start. I'm sure the teams will be flexible to allow us to fit those things in."
Chris Medland
While studying Sports Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, Chris managed to talk his way into working at the British Grand Prix in 2008 and was retained for three years before joining ESPN F1 as Assistant Editor. After three further years at ESPN, a spell as F1 Editor at Crash Media Group was followed by the major task of launching F1i.com’s English-language website and running it as Editor. Present at every race since the start of 2014, he has continued building his freelance portfolio, working with international titles. As well as writing for RACER, his broadcast work includes television appearances on F1 TV and as a presenter and reporter on North America's live radio coverage on SiriusXM.
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