Formula 1 will not be visiting North or South America this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, therefore Circuit of the Americas chairman Bobby Epstein is promising to celebrate the sports return next year with the “greatest” US GP ever.
As cases of COVID-19 continue to rise rapidly across the Americas, it’s become obvious that hosting an F1 race would be difficult given it’s an international series, unlike IndyCar and NASCAR, which have both managed to restart their schedules.
F1 confirmed on Friday that the US, Canadian, Brazilian and Mexican rounds were off, but confirmed additional European races and it’s expected some Asian races will join before the season concludes in the Middle East.
Epstein described the decision to cancel the race “painful” and revealed that a bumper crowd had been expected with ticket pre-sales well ahead of last year’s race, but plans to come back better in ’21.
“The cancellation is prudent, but painful. After a sold out 2019, advance ticket sales deposits were up nearly 250 percent over the prior year, and our staff was preparing our biggest event ever.
“We had secured blockbuster performers for the evening shows, and the racing this year is fantastic. I’m disappointed for the fans, COTA employees, our community and everyone in the Formula One paddock, as I believe we all look forward to what has become a wonderful annual tradition.
“It is my hope that the pandemic will soon pass and we will celebrate 2021 with the greatest Formula One United States Grand Prix ever!”
The 2020 season will mark the first time in Formula 1’s history that the calendar hasn’t featured a race in the Americas.
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