This is also being discussed in the "8 race thread" https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/what-8-races-will-be-run-this-year.618869/ Chase Carey recently said 15-18 races are still likely for the 2020 season. IMHO the only way this is remotely feasible is to run 2 races per weekend. Without this,... Chase Carey's comments seem like crazy talk. I agree with the comments above. Running two races with the same the starting position (or race 2 start based directly on race 1 finish position) would be boring. Results would be the same. This is what I see as possibly / likely being considered: 3 day race weekends as always: Friday: P1 and P2. Saturday: No P3 AM Qualifying: I suspect there would still be qualifying,... Same as 2019. This sets the grid for race 1 only. Afternoon: Race 1. (race 1 could potentially be shorter distance... maybe 30% less. Stay within the official race limits.) Sunday: AM Race 2: Reverse grid for race 2. Start position based on race 1 finish position (Reversed) or perhaps qualifying position (also reversed)... see comments below. This race will be full distance. This scenario, or something else with 2 races in weekend is the only way I can make sense of Carey's "15-18 races still likely" comment. Finally, since the teams have a vey strong financial incentive to race... I am not sure that many will protest too much. Mercedes and Ferrari might care more about PR than the money,... but the rest... I think they'll support it. One problem I see is how to stop the teams from gaming race 1 finish position if you are out of the points. For example... if you're P12 with no chance of getting to P10... the teams will certainly slow down to finish last and get better starting position for race 2. Why not. I would! This could be solved by using Qualifying position to set the reverse grid for race 2.
Never going to happen. Teams would never support this. Unfair advantage for Grosjean. Too much practice!
Can't do that, it is a recipe for disaster. There is too much of a speed differential between first and last. The start and first few laps of passing would be a demolition derby.
Why do we need 18 races a year anyway? Nascar has the same problem. Too many freakin' races in the season.
NASCRAP has 43 cars and 43 races. The intelligence of those watching NASCRAP can only hold one 2-digit number in their heads at any given point in time.
More races, more TV money and more money from organizers for the teams. So there is an incentive to have more races. That said, we really only need 8 races as the minimum, which should be achievable this year.
Exactly my point. 8 races would be enough to crown a championship. Viewership will probably go UP. Look at the Indy 500. Happens once a year and get amazing viewership. Imagine they ran 18 races at the brickyard a year.
Definitely true that more races cheapen the exclusivity of one event. I'm sure once there is a F1 race again, viewership will be through the roof. And it might remain high for the remainder of the season. That said, they're being paid for the overall viewership and of course 8 races with high attendance can't make up for 22 with low attendance. The difference won't be three times as much. I read an article about the costs involved in running a F1 team. Even backmarker Williams pays over 5 million $ in salaries per month. Imagine that while nothing comes in. You won't last long.
Looks like this forum is becoming as dead as the 2020 race season. Running just 8 races was fine in the 1950s when there was little technical development on the cars...but I don't think it would be an honest test of today's machines or the teams. Many of the teams planed upgrades throughout the entire season. Now they would be stuck with what they had after testing. No chance for recovery, no surprises, no comebacks. And not enough entry money to make upgrades worthwhile.
With China supposedly having turned the corner in their fight against COVID-19 (Beijing zoo reopened to the public) maybe they should ship the whole circus to Shanghai circuit and at least hold a race there until things pan out for the rest of the year. If it means leaving everything there until such time, thats fine, just run another race 2 weeks later calling it round 2. (Not the China GP #2). And if it means running 8 races all at the same circuit at least the teams generate revenue from the TV. Kind of tough for the personnel to stay in a Shanghai hotel for 16 weeks, but better than seeing teams go bust.
I would agree except that the Chinese won't let Euro teams into their country now. That said I do think the Chinese GP has a good chance to be held this year. Might be a fly away race together with Japan.