Mending Schedules: Formula One 2020

Formula One is shedding races by the week.

Yesterday, the Canadian Grand Prix was postponed, becoming the ninth postponed or cancelled round of the 2020 season, knocking the season down to 13 rounds and delaying the season opener to French Grand Prix to June 28.

Formula One has shown an openness to makeup races, including dismantling its summer break to fit in postponed races, and Ross Brawn has even come out and said the season will start behind closed doors if necessary. The series expressed extending the season into 2021 to complete the season.

Time is tight for Formula One and similar to NASCAR no makeup dates have been announced for any postponed races. While not needing to reschedule as many races as NASCAR, travel and weather are greater hurdles for Formula One. Not every race may be rescheduled but Formula One can create a respectable schedule without putting every race back on the slate.

Thirteen races remain scheduled for the 2020 Formula One season but there are plenty of openings to get at least four races back on the calendar. One other goal is to complete a season within the 2020 calendar year and not have a few races spill in 2021. Let's take this time to piece together a world championship season.

Here is how the 2020 schedule looks entering today:

June 28: French Grand Prix
July 5: Austrian Grand Prix
July 19: British Grand Prix
August 2: Hungarian Grand Prix
August 30: Belgian Grand Prix
September 6: Italian Grand Prix
September 20: Singapore Grand Prix
September 27: Russian Grand Prix
October 11: Japanese Grand Prix
October 25: United States Grand Prix
November 1: Mexico City Grand Prix
November 15: Brazilian Grand Prix
November 29: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

European rounds slot into the schedule the easiest though it will create more consecutive weekends of racing.

July 26: Dutch Grand Prix
This season was going to see the long-awaited return of the Dutch Grand Prix and a visit to a renovated Zandvoort, which features an 18-degree banked final corner. On the heels of Max Verstappen's rise in Formula One, the Dutch Grand Prix was to draw a sea of orange to cheer the Red Bull driver. This feels like one event Formula One has to get on the schedule. This date creates a triple-header falling between Silverstone and Hungary but Silverstone to Zandvoort is a quick trip.

August 16: Canadian Grand Prix
Montreal has one of the best crowds every year but the location makes it difficult to postpone this race until the autumnal Americas swing to Austin, Mexico City and São Paulo. A few Canadian Grand Prix were in late-October and that is not the most suitable time of year for a Formula One race in Canada. August provides beautiful weather and would draw a strong crowd.

August 23: Spanish Grand Prix
This was supposed to be the summer break but it becomes the most difficult time of the season. One week after a trip to North America, the teams would be in action at Barcelona and it would create four consecutive weeks of races spanning the Atlantic. After Barcelona will be Spa-Francorchamps and Monza before a week off and the first trip to Asia with Singapore.

Unfortunately, the Formula One schedule is unaccommodating to European rounds after Monza. First off, why Singapore and Japan are not consecutive weeks and Russia follows Singapore is outrageous. After Monza, the next best time for a European round would be December, which could work for Spain but not for any other European round on standby. Hopefully this could be an awakening for future scheduling considerations.

The only other option is Portimão, the 12-year-old circuit in southern Portugal and as close to the middle of nowhere as you can get, has been updated to an FIA Grade 1 level circuit, meaning it can now host a grand prix. Though crazy to think a track that was not even in consideration for a grand prix four months ago could become a midseason replacement round and resurrect a grand prix last held 24 years ago we are living in crazy times and this is what desperation looks like.

October 4: Azerbaijan Grand Prix
If Formula One is going to try and get in as many races in as possible Azerbaijan is squeezed in after Russia and before Japan and creates another stretch of four consecutive races. Sochi and Baku are just over 700 miles apart. It is basically in the neighborhood compared to the Singapore-Sochi trek.

December 6: Bahrain Grand Prix
The season would still end under the floodlights and in the Middle East but instead of concluding in Abu Dhabi the final checkered flag will fly in the Kingdom of Bahrain. It is a hop, skip and a jump from Abu Dhabi. Everyone would be in the area and it is a practical decision. This gets the schedule to 18 races and that feels like the limit at the present moment.

Though Shanghai International Circuit plans on opening its 2020 schedule in June I am not sure the Chinese Grand Prix will find a spot in the schedule. The same goes for Vietnam, a street course and one that was originally scheduled for April. It is unfathomable how Vietnam would be scheduled to host two races in five months and that would be the case if it is tacked on to the 2020 season in December and then returns for April 2021.

Eighteen races is a sufficient world championship. Up until four or five years ago, when 20 races became the norm, no one would bat an eye at 18 rounds. While this season would be shorter than intended and see a handful of races dropped, including Australia and Monaco, this would not be some tainted season. This would not require an asterisk. We would actually be fine.

It would be a gauntlet of travel and consecutive weeks at the racetrack. Two-day weekends have been proposed as an answer for calendar congestion. That would make four consecutive weekends more bearable and hopefully give crew members an extra day at home.

Of course, if we are unable to visit Spain, Azerbaijan, Canada and these other countries, there is always Silverstone and its many different layouts and perhaps even a trip around the circuit in its opposite direction.