China could two Grands Prix in 2020, with back to back weekends being discussed as Formula 1 races to find ways to fill its schedule after the COVID-19 pandemic effectively ripped the planned schedule to shreds.
Races in Australia, the Netherlands, Azerbaijan, France, Monaco, Singapore and Japan have already been cancelled, while races in Bahrain, Vietnam, Canada, Spain and China were postponed. Dates have yet to be agreed with those venues, while doubts remain over a number of other races on the schedule, including races in Brazil and the United States.
Shanghai’s sports chief Xu Bin revealed that F1 has approached him with the idea of running two races this year, but no decision has yet been decided to whether they will take up the offer or not.
“We were contacted by the F1 company,” he told Shanghai News Radio. “We are still communicating to see if there is the possibility of hosting two races in Shanghai.
“Of course we should see how the virus is being controlled.”
Formula 1 has only 8 confirmed races so far for the 2020 season, with races in alternative tracks such as Mugello, Imola, Portimao under heavy consideration for a Grand Prix.
If the Chinese Grand Prix is run as a doubleheader, it would join the Austrian and British Grand Prix in running as doubleheader events, while Bahrain and Sochi are also under consideration to be run events across two consecutive weekends.
It remains to be seen how many races the 2020 calendar will consist of, however in April, F1 CEO Chase Carey stated that he hoped to have a fifteen to eighteen race schedule this year despite the cancellation of a number of events because of COVID-19.
