Formula 1 is still looking to find tracks for its emergency calendar and is also negotiating with hosts not originally planned for this year.

In an effort to keep the Championship alive, Formula 1 and Liberty Media seek other Grade 1 listed locations to host a race behind closed doors.

“We are at an advanced stage of a plan for further races in Europe until early September, including races during the actual summer break in August,” said Managing Director Chase Carey at a press conference with investors.

The aim is to “examine all options”. There was speculation that the Hockenheimring, which was not actually planned for this season, could also be used for a Grand Prix.

“We have two main challenges: We have to find places where we can hold a race and we have to make sure how we can transport all the participants and their equipment there,” explained Carey.

The goal remains to start the season with two races without spectators in Spielberg, Austria, on the 5th and 12th of July. After the opening race in Australia in March, which was cancelled at short notice, all World Championship races were cancelled or postponed until the end of June.

Nevertheless, Formula 1 is still holding on to its hope to have at least 15 more races until December and to finish the season in Abu Dhabi. A forced break until the end of the year is “hardly likely”, said Carey. The coming World Championship year should again run as planned.

Previously, rights owner Liberty Media had announced considerable revenue losses. Compared to the first quarter of 2019, when 246 million dollars flowed into the coffers of the Formula 1 owners, this year’s figure was only 39 million dollars – that is, 84 percent less. Formula 1 currently lacks both the entry fees of track operators and TV revenues.

This projected loss would simply be unsustainable for the sport, and Liberty knows it. The real test will be if Red Bull bulldozes the local Austrian provincial authorities into diverting valuable corona testing kits to the Red Bull Ring circuit to enable a race to take place there in July. According to Red Bull’s Helmut Marko, and local news outlets, this has already started in earnest.

Verstappen joins Horner & Red Bull rhetoric to ‘get F1 done’ in Austria 

Winner of the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring last season, Max Verstappen revealed that he would like a second race to be held in Austria for the restart that was postponed by COVID-19.

One has to question if the Formula 1 season can be resumed on July 5th on the Red Bull Ring in Austria. At least that’s the direction the situation seems…. READ MORE ON THIS STORY