The 2020 season is officially set to return in July with the first races of the year in all three formulas.

Life in many countries is slowly moving back to some semblance of normality in what is hoped to be the aftermath of the peak in Covid-19 cases worldwide. As many of us know, life will never be the same again and things that we once did will now have to adapt in light of this global health issue.

The 2020 F2 and F3 seasons had previously been tipped to be one of the best seen with the new F1 regulations expected to change and therefore have that knock-on affect through the F1 grid resulting in a graduate or two coming from F2.

The F2 grid boasts a long list of Ferrari young drivers, Renault has two with Guanyu Zhou and Christian Lundgaard, while Williams has Jack Aitken, Dan Ticktum and Roy Nissany. All of the above-mentioned driver’s and their colleagues across the grid are prepared to fight for their #RoadtoF1.

Here are the five main steps being taken:

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1. Comprehensive and regular testing

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Governments in many nations have been happy to allow “Elite” sport to return to action due to their medical and financial resource. Most sports like F1  will have private testing and approvals of staff prior to travel. Only those who are certified to travel will be able to do so regardless of their position in any team.

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2. No Fans

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We are sure it comes as no surprise that the first half of the season will be spectator-less. We are unsure at this stage when fans will be allowed back into large groups and therefore any sporting venue. So, for now, we will all be watching on TV from home.

This also extends to such parts of the weekend as media teams, television broadcaster’s, sponsors and partners.  All of these ingredients will be managed away from the track.

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3. Reduced Staffing and Personnel

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One of the biggest challenges in F1 and motorsport are the logistics of operations. This now has doubled and extended to the management and policing of its people on a race weekend.

It is still not fully clear what systems and protocols the sports governing body will implement but what is clear is that the number of people that attend a race will need to be to an absolute minimum to ensure that social distancing and those yet discussed rules are actually followed.

The system that has been mentioned publically is that team personnel will be isolated within their team and will not interact or cross paths with other people from outside their approved group.

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4. Changes to Travel

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The continuation of this “bubble” of people will also extend to its traveling parties.  Prior to departing any venue, the testing will allow a certificate of travel and grant that person exit and entry to a new country.

They will need to carry this with them while they travel and only those with negative tests will be allowed to proceed to the next event. It is yet unclear what may happen if one person from a team tests positive and how that will affect the people that they have been in contact with.

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5. Social Distancing

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As we have all become used to now in our own day to day lives we will see the adherence of social distancing measures put in place and enforced throughout the various paddock areas at each event.

Despite the drivers being confined to their own teams and cars through a weekend, there are still occasions when they would normally interact in close quarters such as team and car grid formations prior to a race, podiums and media interviews. As a result, these will all be altered to account for the social distancing rules we see ourselves.

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The news of sport and racing back is great for deprived sports fans around the world and a boost we are sure to morale throughout the world. However, life as we know it will not likely be the same again and how we see and consume racing may also change for a very long time or even forever.

We hope everyone reading this is safe and well and we look forward to sharing this season of F2 action on insideF2.com.

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