JACQUES VILLENEUVE says Formula 1 should scrap plans for a renewed 2020 championship and instead host Le Mans-style “unique” races.
F1’s owners, Liberty Media, have been forced to cancel or postpone all eight of the opening races this year due to the coronavirus.
Former F1 champ Villeneuve feels time is up on the 2020 seasonCredit: Getty – Contributor
The Canadian Grand Prix is expected to make it nine when circuit promoters make an announcement this week.
Yet F1’s CEO, Chase Carey, has said he wants between 15 and 18 races.
However, with the world on lockdown and no signs of a slowdown in cases, Villeneuve thinks it would be a mistake to simply rush through a hectic period of races.
Instead, the 1997 world champion would like to see 2020 written off and starting from fresh in 2021.
He said: “The first races should be in September. Just doing as many races as possible for the contracts would be a mistake.
“We shouldn’t do Grand Prix after Grand Prix until Christmas or even January just because we need a championship at any cost.
“Perhaps it would even be wiser to say that there will be no championship.
“We could have every race as an unique race like the Indy 500 or Le Mans or a Grand Slam tournament.
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“That would also enable the teams to use the end of 2020 to prepare for 2021.”
The Canadian GP is currently the next on the depleted calendar that has been wrecked by the coronavirus pandemic.
The race is due to go ahead on June 14 but with the country still on lockdown and two music events in the city cancelled, it seems unlikely it will get the all clear to race.
Meanwhile, McLaren boss, Zak Brown, had a stark warning for the sport during this crisis.
With no racing, revenues at teams are strained and McLaren have already furloughed some staff while senior figures, including drivers Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris, have taken wage cuts.
Brown fears that as the delay in returning to racing goes on, teams could be forced into bankruptcy.
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He said: “Could I see – through what is going on right now in the world if we don’t tackle this situation head on very aggressively – two teams disappearing? Yeah.
“In fact, I could see four teams disappearing if this isn’t handled the right way.
“I don’t think the timing could be worse from that standpoint. F1 is in a very fragile state at the moment.”
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Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
