Formula 1 teams would be willing to extend the 2020 season into January ’21 in an effort to run a healthy number of events, according to Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto.
With the season unlikely to get going until late-June at the very earliest – though this is thought to be optimistic – F1 runs the risk of running out of weekends to ensure it can reschedule some of the postponed races.
F1 bosses have already agreed to scrap August’s summer break, which has instead been moved to March/April, as well as running into early-December, but Binotto says running a ‘Super Season’ which extends into ’21 is a possibility.
“We are speaking with the other team principals and with the FIA. These are decisive moments” he told Sky Italia.
“We have decided to give total freedom to [Chase] Carey and the FIA to set up a timetable to get back to running as soon as possible.
“We will evaluate different ideas. We could think of doing two or three races in January,” he said.
Compacted races weekends are also on the agenda to ensure races can be run as back-to-backs without putting too much pressure and strain on employees.
“We can also have two-day weekends, with free practice moved to Saturday morning, so that we can meet the logistical needs in case of grands prix being close together,” added Binotto.
F1 has agreed to postpone its ’21 rules package, meaning the current cars will be used next year, which would cut down on the need for an extended winter break, as development in many areas will be frozen.