F1 News

Hungary in the picture as replacement for British Grand Prix

22 May 2020 at 11:48
Last update 22 May 2020 at 14:09
  • GPblog.com

Formula 1 wants to drive two races at Silverstone after two races in Austria, but it looks more and more like it is not feasible. It is the British government that creates an unworkable situation with the corona measures and so Formula 1 looks further ahead. After Austria it is now possible that Hungary will be on the calendar for the third (and fourth) Grand Prix.

Two weeks quarantine

The British government is expected to announce the corona measures later today, including the requirement to go into quarantine for a fortnight. However, sources from Motorsport.com hint that Formula 1 will not get the exception they have lobbied for. This automatically means that racing in the UK is no longer an option.

The biggest problem is that all visitors and returning citizens have to give an address where they can go in self-isolation for two weeks. Every three weeks the government will check whether the measure remains in force, but given that Formula 1 is constantly travelling, it will not work for them.

As a solution, Formula 1 wants to travel like a bubble and they also take enough resources with them to detect infections and isolate them immediately. But that plan of action shouldn't work, since the lobbying hasn't led to anything yet.

Hungary

As there is a good chance that the English Grand Prix will be cancelled because of this, Hungary has come into the picture as an alternative second location. This would mean that there will be a race in Hungary on the 19th of July and possibly one week later. That in itself is quite favourable for Formula 1, as the two circuits are only 420 kilometres away from each other.

Should this indeed continue, a break of two weeks will follow after the four races, so that the English staff can go into isolation. After that, the season could be resumed at Hockenheim in Germany. An insider indicates: "It's all still very much up in the air. The one thing that is very clear is all that teams want to start racing and will do whatever is necessary, including a quadruple header and even being on the road for a couple of months, if that's what it takes. As long as it's safe to do so."