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Helmut Marko, a longtime sponsor of the Red Bull Motorsport team, celebrated his 77th birthday yesterday. Chase Carey, head of Formula 1, couldn’t have given him a nicer gift: an Austrian Grand Prix is getting more and more concrete. The racing series wants to start its postponed season due to the crown pandemic with a race in Austria on July 5.
“Our goal is to start in Europe with races in July, August and early September, with the first race in Spielberg taking place over the weekend of July 3-5,” rights owner Liberty said yesterday. Media. Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic has postponed or canceled the first ten seasonal runs.
“We will release a fixed version of the calendar as soon as possible,” said F1 chief Carey. In September, October, and November, the plan is to drive in Asia and America before the season ends in the Gulf region in December, with the Bahrain Grand Prix before the end of the season in Abu Dhabi.
The first races will definitely take place without fans, but Formula 1 expects this situation to change over the course of the year. Organizers of the French Grand Prix at Le Castellet had previously announced that the race should be canceled this year. Legal regulations would make it impossible for the event to take place in southern France as scheduled.
Still missing the “go” of authority
The situation is different in Austria. Red Bull motorsports consultant Marko recently said that all requirements could already be met. A second race is also being considered. But the authorities have yet to give the green light. The organization of the “Spielberg Project” said yesterday that the Austrian Grand Prix would depend on “further development and decisions of the Austrian federal government.” Sports Minister and Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler (Grne) had already emphasized that the government “at least does not stand in the way of a ghost race at the Red Bull Ring, provided the applicable requirements of the coronavirus can be met.
DTM: Audi comes out
After this season, Audi will no longer participate in the German Touring Car Masters (DTM). The German automaker will focus on Formula E in the future. “I very much regret the decision,” said Gerhard Berger, head of the umbrella organization DTM ITR. Besides Audi, only BMW is still in the racing series, which should start the season on July 11 at the Norisring.
