Silverstone granted green light to stage back-to-back races

As live sport returns to the UK, it seems we may have a double helping of Formula 1 on the horizon. The government has been pushing for a return of elite sport, and F1 is one of the sports on the list. Teams will be given an exemption from the 14-day quarantine period for international arrivals, and must submit a detailed plan of their movements for governmental approval.

These conditions will be eagerly met by a sport sector keen to get back to racing and, as a result, we’ll be seeing two British Grand Prix at the start of August.

An F1 spokesperson said: “We welcome the government’s efforts to ensure elite sport can continue to operate and their support for our return to racing. We will maintain a close dialogue with them in the coming weeks as we prepare to start our season in the first week of July.”

This was in response to a statement by Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden, who discussed the return of live sport last Saturday: “It’s up to each individual sport to decide exactly when to resume competition; they know their sports best. But football, tennis, horse racing, F1, cricket, golf, rugby, snooker and others are set to return to our screens shortly.”

The season is now due to start with two races in Austria

In F1’s case, the races will all be held behind closed doors with a cap on staff numbers, testing them regularly and isolating them as they move from country to country. The 2020 F1 calendar has also been substantially revised as a result of Covid-19. The season is now due to start with two races in Austria, on 5 and 12 July, followed by a third in Hungary on 19 July.

The Silverstone events are scheduled for 2 and 9 August, and it is expected that they will be followed by further races in Spain, Belgium and Italy. Getting the British Grand Prix back up and running is a significant boon for the season’s organisers – it’s one of only two events that has been part of every world championship, hosting the first championship race in 1950.

On the track, who is likely to benefit from a double showing at Silverstone? With the exception of the 2018 Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes have dominated this track every year since 2014. Even in the year Hamilton failed to win, he was a close second.

I’m hoping the 2020 F1 season doesn’t become too repetitive 

Last year, Hamilton and his teammate Valtteri Bottas took first and second place, the former some 16 seconds ahead of the latter. So, with two races at Silverstone, the likeliest outcome is a load of points for Hamilton and Mercedes. Whether the British driver assuming an easy lead twice in succession, on the same race track, will make for an interesting pair of races is far more contentious.

It will be a hard balance for the organisers to strike. They’ve focused on bringing back a full-ish calendar, and that will be good news for fans of F1. However, as these two Silverstone races will be run successively, they run the risk of offering essentially the same race twice in a row, and that could prove boring to the viewers.

I know that no two races in F1 are ever the same, but seeing much difference at the top of the pack would be rather unlikely. As an F1 fan, I am excited at the prospect of seeing racing again after the season collapsed due to the pandemic – however, with multiple Silverstone and Austria races confirmed, and the potential for more double-handers on the horizon, I’m hoping the 2020 F1 season doesn’t become too repetitive before it even truly begins once again.