The season opening Australian race was abruptly cancelled shortly before the start of the first free practice session, while the Monaco and French races were eventually cancelled. The cancellation of the Monaco Grand Prix meant that 2020 would mark the first time since that the race has not been held. The Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Canadian, Dutch, Spanish and Vietnamese Grands Prix were postponed, while the Chinese Grand Prix had already been postponed prior to the pandemic. The Dutch Grand Prix would eventually be cancelled on 28 May, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix would eventually be cancelled on 12 June, along with Singapore (due to logistical difficulties associated with establishing a street circuit on short notice) and Japanese (due to travel restrictions by Japanese government). The Canadian Grand Prix would be cancelled on 24 July along with races in Mexico, United States and Brazil due to the travel restrictions in the Americas, while the Spanish Grand Prix would be rescheduled to 16 August on 2 June. On 24 August, the Bahrain Grand Prix would be rescheduled to 29 November and the Chinese Grand Prix was cancelled. On 16 October, the Vietnamese Grand Prix was cancelled. Organizers of the Austrian, British and Hungarian Grands Prix were the first to announce that their races could go ahead, but run without spectators and with teams staffed by minimal personnel. The summer break shut down period—which includes mandatory factory closures as a cost-cutting measure—was also brought forward from August to March and April and was originally extended to three weeks, allowing for postponed races to be held in August.