F1 2020 calendar confirmed with Silverstone double-header as part of eight-race European schedule

Inaugural F1 70th Anniversary Grand Prix will follow the British Grand Prix in August as part of an eight-race European schedule that will be held entirely behind closed doors

Silverstone will host the British Grand Prix and the inaugural F1 70th Anniversary Grand Prix across the first two weekends in August after a revamped 2020 calendar was unveiled to start the heavily-delayed season next month.

Formula One has been put on hold following the outbreak of coronavirus, with all races since the scheduled 15 March season-opener in Australia either postponed or cancelled.

The campaign will kick off in Austria with back-to-back weekends at the Red Bull Ring, which has been pinpointed as the ideal location for F1 to resume under their new Covid-19 conditions, where fans will be locked out of circuits for the full European stint of the 2020 season.

The curtain-raising Austrian Grand Prix will take place across the weekend of 3-5 July, with the Pirelli Grand Prix of Styria, the state where the Spielberg circuit is located, staged the following weekend.

Silverstone was initially due to hold the third and fourth rounds of the season, only for the UK government’s plans to quarantine those arriving in the country for 14 days to throw those plans in jeopardy. As a result, the Formula One Group moved the Hungarian Grand Prix to fill the third weekend on 17-19 July, before the first weekend off ahead of the August Silverstone double-header.

The European stint will round out with races in Spain, Belgium and Italy before the season moves on to the EurAsian, Asian, American and Middle East legs of the calendar, with dates and plans for fans to return due to be announced by F1 when the time is right.

A further seven-to-10 races will be announced later this year once the remainder of the calendar is finalised, with the season still expected to end in Abu Dhabi before Christmas to ensure any disruption to the 2021 season will be kept to a minimum. F1 chief executive Chase Carey stressed that while the season plans completes a giant step towards the resumption of motorsport’s premier category, the safety of all of those involved remains at the forefront of the new schedule.

“In the past weeks we have been working tirelessly with all our partners, the FIA and the teams to create a revised opening 2020 calendar allowing us to restart racing in the safest possible way,” said Carey.

"We are pleased to be able to set out our opening eight race calendar today and look forward to publishing our full calendar in the coming weeks.

"I want to thank every promoter and partner for their support and ongoing commitment to Formula One.

"While we currently expect the season to commence without fans at our races we hope that over the coming months the situation will allow us to welcome them back once it is safe to do, but we know the return of Formula One will be a welcome boost to sports fans around the world.”

An F1 statement added that “the health and safety of all involved will continue to be priority number one, with Formula One and the FIA having a robust and detailed plan to ensure the races maintain the highest level of safety with strict procedures in place”.

All eight rounds will be supported by both Formula Two and Formula Three, with the two feeder championships set to announce the remainder of their seasons at a later date.

2020 F1 calendar

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

10-12 July: Grand Prix of Austria (Red Bull Ring)

17-19 July: Hungarian Grand Prix (Hungaroring)

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

7-9 August: F1 70th Anniversary Grand Prix (Silverstone)

14-16 August: Spanish Grand Prix (Catalunya)

28-30 August: Belgian Grand Prix (Spa-Francorchamps)

4-6 September: Italian Grand Prix (Monza)