New Delhi: The Formula One (F1) world body on Tuesday (June 2) confirmed that the truncated 2020 season of the premier motorracing championship will get under in Austria on July 3. The organisers have announced the details of the first eight races of the year, in a freshly drafted calendar.

F1 racing, along with most of other international sports was put on hold due the Coronovirus pandemic which has had a global impact. The teams and the FIA have been working to put together a plan to allow the season to begin safely, and F1 chief executive Chase Carey outlined the first part of a revised calendar of races, a release informed.

“The season will kick off with the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring on July 5, followed a week later by a second race at the same track. The Hungarian Grand Prix will follow a week after that, before a break. Then there will be two back to back races at Silverstone, followed by the Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona,” a release shared by the F1 body added.

“The Belgian Grand Prix will follow that, with the Italian Grand Prix at Monza a week later on September 6. All the races will be supported by Formula 2 and Formula 3,” the release added.

Due to the ongoing fluidity of the COVID-19 situation internationally, F1 will be finalising the details of the wider calendar and hope to publish that in the coming weeks with an expectation of having a total of 15-18 races before completing the season in December.

F1 currently expect the opening races to be closed events but hope fans will be able to attend again when it is safe to do so.

“The health and safety of all involved will continue to be priority number one, with Formula 1 and the FIA having a robust and detailed plan to ensure the races maintain the highest level of safety with strict procedures in place,” the F1 world body stated.

F1 2020 Opening Calendar:

3-5 July - Austrian Grand Prix (Red Bull Ring)

10-12 July - Steiermark Grand Prix (Red Bull Ring)

17-19 July - Hungarian Grand Prix (Hungaroring)

31 July-2 August - British Grand Prix (Silverstone)

7-9 August - 70th Anniversary Grand Prix (Silverstone)

14-16 August - Spanish Grand Prix

28-30 August - Belgian Grand Prix

4-6 September - Italian Grand Prix