F1 adds three more races, rules out American GPs

Formula 1 has announced the addition of the Nurburgring, Portimao, and Imola to its 2020 calendar while confirming that there will be no races in the Americas this year.

The Nurburgring will play host to Round 11, the ‘Eifel Grand Prix’, on October 9-11, a fortnight after the Russian Grand Prix which rounded out the last batch of confirmed races.

Portimao will see an F1 race for the first time on the weekend of October 23-25, which will be known as the Portuguese Grand Prix, before the field heads to Imola for a two-day event called the ‘Emilia Romagna Grand Prix’ on October 31-November 1.

The Canadian, United States, Mexico City, and Brazilian Grands Prix have now all been formally ruled out for this year “due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, local restrictions and the importance of keeping communities and personnel safe,” according to F1’s announcement.

F1 CEO Chase Carey said, “We are pleased that we continue to make strong progress in finalising our plans for the 2020 season and are excited to welcome Nurburgring, Portimao and Imola to the revised calendar.

“We want to thank the promoters, the teams, and the FIA for their full support in our efforts to bring our fans exciting racing this season during an unprecedented time.

“We also want to pay tribute to our incredible partners in the Americas and look forward to being back with them next season when they will once again be able to thrill millions of fans around the world.”

The format for Imola, which has not been on the calendar since 2006, has not been finalised but championship organisers have given an expectation of one practice session before qualifying and the race.

They are also maintaining their stance of a 15- to 18-race season “ending in the Gulf region”, which would likely mean rounds at Bahrain and Yas Marina at a minimum in addition to the 13 locked in so far across Europe.

Coming up next are Rounds 4 and 5 at Silverstone, specifically the British Grand Prix on July 31-August 2 and the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix on August 7-9.

Formula 1 2020 calendar Revised; more races TBA