The coronavirus keeps taking its toll on the world and on the Formula One season. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is the latest race to fall prey to the global pandemic, as it has now been officially postponed to a later date. The Baku circuit, which was scheduled to kick the season off on June 7th has been deferred indefinitely, as has the season.
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is the 8th race of the season to be called off. In a statement issued by the Baku City Circuit (BCC), it read:” Baku City Circuit (BCC) has today taken the decision to postpone the Formula One Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2020 due to take place on 7 June. BCC’s primary concern throughout has been the health and wellbeing of the Azerbaijani people as well as all visiting F1 fans, staff and championship participants.”
It continued, “The thoughts of everyone at Baku City Circuit during this challenging and unprecedented situation go out to all those directly and indirectly affected by the coronavirus pandemic. We wish to thank all our supporters, customers and partners for your understanding and look forward to welcoming you back to Baku later in the year.”
As of now, the Montreal Grand Prix is probably going to be the first race of the season on 14th June. There has been no word on whether it will happen or not though, but with Canada already pulling out of the Olympics, it is most likely that even Montreal might be cancelled. As of now, seven Grands Prix - Australia, Bahrain, Vietnam, China, the Netherlands, Spain, and Azerbaijan - have been postponed, while Monaco has been cancelled altogether.
Interestingly, it could be that whenever the season does kick-off, it might extend well into 2021 with the 2021 season pushed far beyond the usual mid-March kickoff that F1 has been doing all these years. Keep your eyes on this space and your hands sanitized as we keep bringing you the latest news from the paddock and beyond.
