Updating fans who have bought tickets for this year's races, F1 insists that it is "committed to bringing fans a championship season" in 2020, details of which will be published in "due course".

"In light of the ongoing COVID-19 situation Formula 1 has announced a number of race postponements in the interests of safety for our fans, the communities we visit and the F1 community," said F1 in a statement today. "As stated recently our intention is to start the 2020 season at some point this summer.

"At this time no-one can be certain of exactly when the situation will improve, but when it does, we will be ready to go racing again. We are all committed to bringing our fans a 2020 Championship Season."

With the sport effectively in limbo, F1 is having to rely on virtual racing which has attracted a number of drivers, but not the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas or Sebastian Vettel. Online betting is also gaining interest among fans especially as there are now numerous users reviews about online bookies.

"Formula 1 is currently working with our promoters on a revised 2020 calendar with the actual sequence and schedule dates for races likely to differ significantly from our original 2020 calendar.

"This will be published in due course," it adds, at a time the French and Belgian Grands Prix are all but officially postponed and the promoter of the Italian Grand Prix is warning against another Melbourne-style fiasco.

"As previously announced, we will utilise the summer break being brought forward to March/April to race during the normal summer break period, and anticipate the season end date will extend beyond our original end date of 27-29th November.

"If you bought tickets for races that have been postponed or cancelled through F1Tickets.com, F1 Paddock Club and F1 Experiences, we are currently working with each race promoter on the transfer and refund options available to you. We are working at speed to finalise those options and will be in contact with you.

"Ticket holders who did not purchase through those routes should get the latest information on transfers or refunds through their point of purchase, either the relevant ticket reseller or the promoter’s official website as transfer or refund processes may differ for each race. For races not postponed ticket holders’ tickets remain valid."

In all honesty, with absolutely no end to the pandemic in sight, and some countries easing their lockdowns while others remain firmly in place, a schedule at this point in time is wishful thinking.

Indeed, as we have said before, one wonders who FOM is really trying to convince.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Superbird70, 16/04/2020 21:08

"You think too small. What would Chase do? As I said before Friday qualifying, Saturday morning clockwise, Saturday night race, Sunday morning Anti-clockwise, Sunday afternoon Bernie with water cannons for a wet race. I hear the Autodromo Ulaanbaatar is fairly open this summer.
Honestly, shut down the season and think about surviving into next year."

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2. Posted by nnails, 16/04/2020 20:19

"I would how sky sports viewing figures. "

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3. Posted by Editor, 16/04/2020 18:15

"@ alvarezh3

Run-offs are a major factor as cars going off would be coming from the opposite direction to usual.

As I said, not the work of a moment... and expensive."

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4. Posted by alvarezh3, 16/04/2020 18:10

"@ Editor:

Yes, probably the most important part as the run off areas would be different and not necessarily in compliance."

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5. Posted by Editor, 16/04/2020 17:59

"@ Pete & alvarezh3

And let's not forget the FIA Grade 1 Licence, which is not the work of a moment.

Any modifications to the circuit and reversing the layout would require separate licences."

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6. Posted by alvarezh3, 16/04/2020 17:55

"Correction:
Sector times on the application will still be correct on an inverted circuit, but sector 1 will become #3 and vice-versa, so that has to be fixed in order to avoid the time on sector 3 (which would become sector 1) being shown still as sector 3."

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7. Posted by alvarezh3, 16/04/2020 17:44

"@Pete:

Your idea is pretty cool, but what about the asphalt paintings on the starting grid? The different distances of the sectors will have to be reprogramed on the timing and scoring application in order to give the correct values. The starting light set and the flag lights around the circuit would need to be repositioned. The team that gets pit garage #1 will become #10, wonder if they would like that. I could easily miss a few other inconveniences. Not that it can't be done, but it's just not as easy as just saying: ok guys, align over this way now."

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8. Posted by Pete, 16/04/2020 14:28

"if they had two races in one weekend, one clockwise and one anticlockwise, the "real racers" would be able to shine and the "robots" would flounder."

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9. Posted by alvarezh3, 16/04/2020 13:34

"This is not the headline I read, but the one I understood it conveyed:

"FOM committed to earn the TV broadcast money to stay financially afloat.""

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F1 "committed to bringing fans a championship season"

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