The Canadian Grand Prix has become the latest round of the 2020 F1 season to cancel its original race date.

The race promoters said on Tuesday they hope to find a new slot for their round of the world championship. The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve was originally due to hold the ninth race of the season on June 14th.

The president and CEO of the Canadian Grand Prix, Francois Dumontier, said “at the moment it is crucial that all of our energies be put together to overcome Covid-19. We will welcome you with open arms at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve as soon as it is safe to do so.”

Formula 1 chairman and CEO Chase Carey said the championship supports the decision. “We always look forward to travelling to the incredible city of Montreal and while we will all have to wait a bit longer, we will put on a great show when we arrive later this year,” he said. Canada joins six other events seeking later dates for their races, Australia and Monaco having cancelled their rounds.

The latest change to the calendar as a result of the global pandemic means the French Grand Prix on June 28th will become the season-opening race. The possibility this race may be held ‘behind closed doors’ without fans could open up the opportunity for Paul Ricard to hold a second round of the world championship in August.

The race is normally held earlier in the year to ensure more comfortable temperatures for spectators. This would not be a consideration for a race held behind closed doors. Paul Ricard also has 160 different circuit configurations, many of which F1 could use, allowing it to run different courses for multiple races.

If the F1 season does begin at Paul Ricard on June 28th it will equal the third-longest gap between consecutive races in F1’s history, at 210 days.

The teams are due to head straight from France to Austria for what will now be the second round of the world championship at the Red Bull Ring on July 5th. RaceFans understands Red Bull is adamant Austria’s round of the 2020 world championship will go ahead on that date or not at all.

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Video: Will F1 resort to holding races ‘behind closed doors’?

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How the 2020 F1 calendar has changed

Round Event Dates Notes 1 Australian Grand Prix Mar 13-15 Cancelled, will not be rescheduled 2 Bahrain Grand Prix Mar 20-22 Cancelled, seeking replacement date 3 Vietnam Grand Prix Apr 3-5 Cancelled, seeking replacement date 4 Chinese Grand Prix Apr 17-19 Cancelled, seeking replacement date 5 Dutch Grand Prix May 1-3 Cancelled, seeking replacement date 6 Spanish Grand Prix May 8-10 Cancelled, seeking replacement date 7 Monaco Grand Prix May 21-24 Cancelled, will not be rescheduled 8 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Jun 5-7 Cancelled, seeking replacement date 9 Canadian Grand Prix Jun 12-14 Cancelled, seeking replacement date 10 French Grand Prix Jun 26-28 11 Austrian Grand Prix Jul 3-5 12 British Grand Prix Jul 17-19 13 Hungarian Grand Prix Jul 31-Aug 2 14 Belgian Grand Prix Aug 28-30 15 Italian Grand Prix Sep 4-6 16 Singapore Grand Prix Sep 18-20 17 Russian Grand Prix Sep 25-27 18 Japanese Grand Prix Oct 9-11 19 United States Grand Prix Oct 23-25 20 Mexican Grand Prix Oct 30-Nov 1 21 Brazilian Grand Prix Nov 13-15 22 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Nov 27-29

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2020 F1 season