2020 Formula 1 Calendar threadFormula 1 

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Carbonox
The list of countries hosting F1 is looking more and more like a parody.
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They still have Syria, Venezuela, Turkey (after this year) and Iran off the calendar for some reason. Wonder when Pakistan gets added.
 
I'm assuming rain in consecutive years producing two classic, sell-out races has scared the FIA away from the Hockenheimring so let's race in a literal desert instead that no one within the country or outside it will either want to attend, or be allowed to attend.

We Race as One, unless you're gay, a woman, the wrong kind of Muslim or not even a Muslim at all.
 
These days , I'd be more surprised if they weren't taking piles of money from morally bankrupt governments wanting an ostentatious display of their dubiously earned wealth.
 
The race that nobody wants, or asked for. 23 races is too many aswell. Needs to be around 20 and find a way of getting the likes of imola onto the calendar. Saudi Arabia has not gone down well with the fans, ive read the sky sports twitter feed, f1 twitter feed and facebook, i have not seen 1 positive comment.
 
Money seems to be of bigger importance than human rights. Who cares about the persecution of gays and the stifling of women's freedoms? What a load of absolute crap considering what F1 is doing now. I hope it flops hard.
 
I think this is the first time I've genuinely wanted a race to be a total failure. All the talk F1 did about equality at the beginning of the season is all but bollocks now.

The Hashtage should read something like: #WeRaceAsOneUpToACertainPrice. Not at all catchy, but definitely accurate.
 
Does the race get cancelled if a woman ends up in a race seat or do they get excluded, would be a good question to ask Liberty.
 
mustafur
Does the race get cancelled if a woman ends up in a race seat or do they get excluded, would be a good question to ask Liberty.
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They can race but they must wear their helmet and overalls for the entire weekend, and their (male) race engineer must follow them round the track in a second car, they also can't speak on the radio unless spoken to first.
 
Can't wait for Mohammed Salman's next press conference.

Mohammed Salman: "And remember, a shiny new donkey for whomever brings me the head of Jamal Khashoggi."
*Chase Carey whispers in his ear*
Mohammed Salman: "Oh... by which I of course mean that it's time for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix..."

Forgive the timeline of events. You know what I'm getting at.
 
Given Lewis Hamilton's love for political activism, will he boycott this event? Will we see the rainbow-livery McLarens?

Or will everyone just accept the sportswashing and gulp it down by the spoonful?


I'd love to see one team have the sheer gall to give Jamie Chadwick an FP1 seat. It won't happen though.
 
Famine
Given Lewis Hamilton's love for political activism, will he boycott this event? Will we see the rainbow-livery McLarens?

Or will everyone just accept the sportswashing and gulp it down by the spoonful?


I'd love to see one team have the sheer gall to give Jamie Chadwick an FP1 seat. It won't happen though.
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daan
Get the W series in as a support race.
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All of the above, plus the Yemeni national anthem on the podium, and something heavy handed about selling them Eurofighters, might just unwash the event for me.

EDIT: Just a shame the circuit is guaranteed to be a characterless snoozefest on top of everything else.
 
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If Lewis and Mercedes have already won both titles next year by the time we get to Jeddah, what have they got to lose by boycotting the race? Can the FIA fine them?

Also, 23 races a year is just way too much. I get tired just thinking about it.
 
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I have read all comments here,and elsewhere. And as a Saudi myself I would like to express my thoughts and opinion if you allow me. Personally I would rather not have this race tbh. We don't have motorsport heritage, and I would like if they have focused on proper motorsport infrastructure locally and junior academics at first. Having said that, I would respectfully recommend to some of the guys here to do at least a 5 minutes fact checking, because some comments are nonsense. I'm not sure if it's sarcasm or something but anyway....

I know we don't have the best of records in terms reputations, but things are changing quickly and moving forward to a better direction. I'm certain that some will argue that it's not enough, but please consider that there's social responsibility as well as religious and cultural differences that no other nation is dealing with such a change. 70% of the population is under 30 years old, and frankly speaking a lot are trying too hard to display or prove to western countries or people that they are not closed minded or something by copying what they do and lifestyle or something. This comes from the fact some of people may get the feeling that they are getting rejected of who they are. You can get that feeling easily tbh in Europe for example.

And with it comes the feeling that this is getting more towards discrimination and racism against Saudis or middle eastern. I,m talking people to people, politics are dirty worldwide, otherwise we wouldn't have BLM, and F1 is already going to places where human rights can also be questioned.

And yes, F1 goes for money all the time. It's a global entity that exists to make profit, and as we seen this year it's barely called sustainable. So yeah, the sport that we all love to watch needs cash to survive, and like it or not, you all seen the "Aramco " boards and adds. This money could have helped F1 to stage those races we have seen by limiting their losses, who knows?

That's my opinion, I know it's not going to be popular, but I'm open to "productive criticism " without insults. Thanks.
 
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@Betty blue I'd like to think that criticism of Saudi Arabia doesn't extend to Saudi people just for being Saudi but explicitly to the House of Saud and the ruling class for the brutal regime that has been there and, with the extrajudicial killing of Jamal Khashoggi, continues to take place.

I have several friends from Iran who feel the same way about criticism of Iran extending to all Iranians because of some belief that they're all under the spell of the Ayatollah or something.

Sportwashing could be worthy of its own thread; WWE has done several televised PPVs from Saudi Arabia (whatever you think of wrestling, it's a big deal) and there has been criticism of those for being under the Vision 2030 banner and yet, and I can see the point of view, some people argue that unless outside entitites are willing to work with Saudi Arabia, how will progressive change ever happen?

I think the main nub of the criticism is levied at Formula One itself; its messages of unity and inclusion go against the selection of races on the calendar where unity and inclusion are not allowed and dissent is not tolerated. It's a hypocrisy from the sport, whatever people's opinions of Saudi Arabia are, and it extends to several races on the calendar already.
 
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Betty blue
I have read all comments here,and elsewhere. And as a Saudi myself I would like to express my thoughts and opinion if you allow me. Personally I would rather not have this race tbh. We don't have motorsport heritage, and I would like if they have focused on proper motorsport infrastructure locally and junior academics at first. Having said that, I would respectfully recommend to some of the guys here to do at least a 5 minutes fact checking, because some comments are nonsense. I'm not sure if it's sarcasm or something but anyway....

I know we don't have the best of records in terms reputations, but things are changing quickly and moving forward to a better direction. I'm certain that some will argue that it's not enough, but please consider that there's social responsibility as well as religious and cultural differences that no other nation is dealing with such a change. 70% of the population is under 30 years old, and frankly speaking a lot are trying too hard to display or prove to western countries or people that they are not closed minded or something by copying what they do and lifestyle or something. This comes from the fact some of people may get the feeling that they are getting rejected of who they are. You can get that feeling easily tbh in Europe for example.

And with it comes the feeling that this is getting more towards discrimination and racism against Saudis or middle eastern. I,m talking people to people, politics are dirty worldwide, otherwise we wouldn't have BLM, and F1 is already going to places where human rights can also be questioned.

And yes, F1 goes for money all the time. It's a global entity that exists to make profit, and as we seen this year it's barely called sustainable. So yeah, the sport that we all love to watch needs cash to survive, and like it or not, you all seen the "Aramco " boards and adds. This money could have helped F1 to stage those races we have seen by limiting their losses, who knows?

That's my opinion, I know it's not going to be popular, but I'm open to "productive criticism " without insults. Thanks.
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Thanks for your insight. It's interesting to read it from your side.

I think as you well know, Saudi Arabia has a lot of work to do if it's ever going to shed the associations that have popped up in this discussion.

With that said, I think it's worth pointing out that one can disagree with the politics and leadership of a nation without necessarily believing everyone who lives there is 100% on board and complicit; case in point would be the USA since 2016.

To my mind, you've said it yourself - SA has no Motorsport heritage and no real f1 infrastructure, and without those, there can only be one reason to have a race - it's lucrative financially.
 
Reckon I’m in the minority when I say I genuinely don’t care where F1 races, besides it’s not like I pay to watch the races anyway. Not everything has to be a political statement.
 
The Vietnamese GP won't be on the F1 2021 calendar following the arrest of Nguyen Duc Chung on charges related to state secrets. The case doesn't have anything to do with the F1 race but it's seen as "his" project. The government are saying they have other priorities than F1 in any case. BBC.
 
Provisional calendar is released
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/...calendar-for-2021.2Dgw83ieWq48p0ZjmcGRnX.html

  • 21 March – Australia (Melbourne)
  • 28 March – Bahrain (Sakhir)
  • 11 April – China (Shanghai)
  • 25 April – TBC (TBC)
  • 9 May – Spain (Barcelona)*
  • 23 May – Monaco (Monaco)
  • 6 June – Azerbaijan (Baku)
  • 13 June – Canada (Montreal)
  • 27 June – France (Le Castellet)
  • 4 July – Austria (Spielberg)
  • 18 July – United Kingdom (Silverstone)
  • 1 August – Hungary (Budapest)
  • 29 August – Belgium (Spa)
  • 5 September – Netherlands (Zandvoort)
  • 12 September – Italy (Monza)
  • 26 September – Russia (Sochi)
  • 3 October – Singapore (Singapore)
  • 10 October – Japan (Suzuka)
  • 24 October – USA (Austin)
  • 31 October – Mexico (Mexico City)
  • 14 November – Brazil (Sao Paulo)*
  • 28 November – Saudi Arabia (Jeddah)
  • 5 December – Abu Dhabi (Abu Dhabi)
So yeah, all the fun tracks we went to this year have been booted off again. The 25th April slot was probably where Vietnam should have been. Note that there are two dreaded triple-headers (Belgium-Netherlands-Italy, Russia-Singapore-Japan). Barcelona and Interlagos are still both subject to a contract agreement.
 
Not too surprised to see that Hanoi (Anoi as I call it! :cheers:) has been dropped but I really hope Imola makes it into that vacant slot as I would like to see another race there in 2021.

Is the French GP at a different track though or is that the new name for Paul Ricard circuit?
 

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