Formula 1 is looking to begin its season in July or August according to Race Director Michael Masi.

The opening eight events of the 2020 season have been either cancelled or postponed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic with doubts now being raised over the future of the French Grand Prix.

It’s a point reaffirmed by Masi, who admitted on Supercars Sidetracked that the sport was hoping for a July start to its season.

“We’re working as hard as we can with the various promoters, the F1 Group and the FIA would like to hope maybe July but the very latest August we’d like to get going,” he said.

The Austrian Grand Prix is scheduled to be held on July 5, following by the British Grand Prix on July 19.

The Hungarian Grand Prix on August 2 was planned to be the final race before the summer break.

However, the calendar is expected to change significantly, with the summer break having been moved forward and extended to run through March, April, and into May.

The sport’s official website no longer has a published calendar, with the schedule page carrying a statement regarding the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Masi has been working across timezones from Australia, having remained on home soil since the Australian Grand Prix’s cancellation in early March.

“I’ll be staying here for as long as I can, until things around the world have calmed down obviously,” he said.

“The challenge of Formula 1 is not just racing in one country but racing in many and having to cross a whole lot of borders along the way.”