2020 Formula One World Championship (Alt)

This is a fictional account of an alternative version of the 2020 F1 season. For the real 2020 season, see the 2020 Formula One World Championship

The **2020 FIA Formula One World Championship** was the motor racing championship for Formula One cars which was the 71st running of the Formula One World Championship. It marked the 70th anniversary of the first Formula One World Drivers' Championship. The championship was recognised by the governing body of international motorsport, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. Drivers and teams competed for the titles of World Drivers' Champion and World Constructors' Champion, respectively.

The championship was originally due to start in March, but the start was postponed until July in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The season was due to be contested over a record of 22 Grands Prix, but as some races were cancelled and new races were added to replace them, a total of 17 races were run. The season started in July with the Austrian Grand Prix and ended in December with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the first eight rounds of the championship were run behind closed doors, with the rest of the races being run at a reduced capacity or also behind closed doors due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers took part in the 2020 season. Teams competed with tyres supplied by Pirelli.

### Free practice drivers

Across the season, four drivers drove as a test or third driver in free practice sessions. Jack Aitken and Roy Nissany both drove for Williams at one and three Grands Prix respectively, Robert Kubica drove for Alfa Romeo Racing at five Grands Prix and Mick Schumacher drove for Haas at one Grand Prix.

Schumacher and Callum Ilott were due to appear in the first practice session for the Eifel Grand Prix, driving for Alfa Romeo Racing and Haas respectively, but the session was cancelled due to bad weather conditions. Robert Shwartzman was due to appear in the first practice session of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, driving for Haas. However, he did not appear on the entry list.

### Driver changes

**Pierre Gasly: Red Bull -> Toro Rosso, Alexander Albon: Toro Rosso -> Red Bull.** After a bad season in 2019, Red Bull swapped Gasly and Albon, to see if Gasly needed more time with the junior team.

**Robert Kubica: Williams -> sabbatical, Lewis Hamilton -> Williams.** Kubica decided to take a sabbatical after a poor season in 2019, and was replaced by Lewis Hamilton, returning from his sabbatical.

#### Mid-season changes

After Romain Grosjean suffered burns to his hands following a crash at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Haas promoted test driver Pietro Fittipaldi to make his debut at the Sakhir Grand Prix. Grosjean also missed the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix because of his recovery after the crash in Bahrain; Fittipaldi raced again for the team. Lewis Hamilton tested positive for the coronavirus prior to the Sakhir Grand Prix and was forced to sit out. He was replaced by Jack Aitken. Hamilton returned to Williams for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, after testing negative for the coronavirus. Jules Bianchi tested positive for Covid before the final race and was replaced by Charles Leclerc, who in turn was replaced by Mick Schumacher at Sauber.

## Calendar

Twenty-two Grands Prix were originally scheduled for the 2020 World Championship. However, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in numerous race cancellations and postponements. A rescheduled calendar consisted of seventeen Grands Prix, nine from the original 2020 calendar and eight other Grands Prix, while the other thirteen original 2020 races were cancelled. This also meant that the season started with two races in Austria, and later on in the season there were also two races at Silverstone Circuit along with two races at Bahrain International Circuit. Each race is the minimum number of laps that exceeds a total distance of 305 km (189.5 mi). Under the sporting regulations, a minimum of eight races must take place for the season to be considered a championship.

The following rounds were included on the original calendar published by the World Motor Sport Council, but were cancelled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic:

### Changes from the 2019 calendar to the original 2020 calendar

After purchasing the commercial rights to the sport from CVC Capital Partners in January 2017, Liberty Media announced plans to expand the Formula One calendar using a concept they termed "destination races" and modelled on the Singapore Grand Prix. Under the "destination races" model, Grands Prix would be established in or near key tourist destinations and integrate racing, entertainment and social functions with the aim of making the sport more accessible and appealing to a wider audience. Several countries and venues announced plans to bid for a Grand Prix, with two bids being successful:

* The Vietnamese Grand Prix was announced as the first new race created under Liberty's management. The race was given a provisional date of April 2020 and was planned to take place in the capital Hanoi on the Hanoi Circuit, but was later cancelled.
* The Dutch Grand Prix was due to be revived, with the race scheduled to take place at the Circuit Zandvoort. The 2020 race would have marked the first time the Dutch Grand Prix has been run since 1985. However, the race was later cancelled.

Liberty Media initially expected that the 2020 calendar would consist of twenty-one Grands Prix and that any new races would come at the expense of existing events, but later negotiated an agreement with the teams to allow up to twenty-two Grands Prix. Several further changes were made between the 2019 and 2020 calendars, with the German Grand Prix discontinued and the Mexican Grand Prix planned to be rebranded as the Mexico City Grand Prix before it was cancelled.

## Regulation changes

### Sporting regulations

Teams were allowed to use an additional MGU-K compared to 2019 to compensate for the increased demands of contesting the originally planned twenty-two races.

Drivers who participated in free practice sessions were eligible for additional FIA Super Licence points. Any driver who completed a minimum 100 km (62 mi) during a free practice session received an additional Super Licence point on the condition that they do not commit a driving infraction. Drivers could only accrue ten Super Licence points across a three-season period from free practice sessions. The rules around helmet designs were relaxed with drivers allowed to change their design as many times as they wanted between races, having previously been restricted to a base design and one permitted major design change (excluding minor alterations) since 2015.

As a result of what was then planned to be an expanded calendar, the two pre-season tests which took place at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya were reduced in length from four days to three days each, whilst the two in-season tests that took place at Bahrain International Circuit and Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in 2019 were discontinued. Teams were no longer allowed to hide their cars during testing. The amount of time in which car mechanics were prohibited from working on the car was extended from eight to nine hours.

The rules surrounding jump starts and the weighbridge were relaxed with the race stewards able to hand out less severe punishments for missing the weighbridge and jump starts.

### Technical regulations

In order to reduce the risk of punctures, the last 50 mm (2.0 in) of the front wing could no longer contain any metal. Brake ducts could no longer be outsourced and must be made and designed by the team. The amount of fuel that could be outside of the fuel tank was reduced from 2 litres (3.5 imp pt) to 250 millilitres (0.44 imp pt). A decrease in electronic driver aids meant that drivers were responsible for managing more of the car's torque during race starts.

## Results and standings

### Scoring system

Points are awarded to the top ten classified drivers and the driver who set the fastest lap. The driver with the fastest lap has to be within the top 10 to receive the point. In the case of a tie on points a countback system is used where the driver with the best results is ranked higher, if the best result is identical then the next best result is considered. The points are awarded for every race using the following system: