Austria and UK to host two races each as Formula One confirms early schedule for 2020 season

Formula One have announced the revised schedule for the first eight races of the 2020 season, with Austria and the United Kingdom both hosting two races on successive weekends.

The F1 season is yet to get underway, the coronavirus pandemic forcing the cancellation or postponement of the first 10 races on the calendar.

F1 bosses had previously targeted Austria as the starting point for this year's campaign, and it has been confirmed that Spielberg will host the first race weekend on July 3-5, before hosting a second race the following weekend on July 10-12.

The Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest will then take place July 17-19. F1 will then head to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix on July 31-August 2 and the track will stage another race weekend on August 7-9.

The Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona will follow, on August 14-16, before the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps on August 28-30.

The Italian Grand Prix at Monza is the eighth and final confirmed race so far and will be held September 4-6.

All grands prix will be held without spectators.

“In the past weeks we have been working tirelessly with all our partners, the FIA and the teams to create a revised opening 2020 calendar allowing us to restart racing in the safest possible way," F1 CEO Chase Carey said in a statement.

"We are pleased to be able to set out our opening eight race calendar today and look forward to publishing our full calendar in the coming weeks. I want to thank every promoter and partner for their support and ongoing commitment to Formula 1.

"While we currently expect the season to commence without fans at our races we hope that over the coming months the situation will allow us to welcome them back once it is safe to do, but we know the return of Formula 1 will be a welcome boost to sports fans around the world.”

While F1 has not yet released any details for the remaining races, organisers have stated their intention to move the Bahrain Grand Prix - initially slated for March - to the start of December, followed by the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

The plan is to stage between 15 and 18 races this year, down from the planned 22. Races in Australia, the Netherlands, Monaco, and France have been officially cancelled.