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Formula 1 wouldn’t have made it through the coronavirus pandemic with the old guard in charge. At least, not in the way it has.
Ex-F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone said at the start of the global COVID-19 crisis that he’d have given up on a 2020 season, and that he’d be “very, very surprised” if F1 achieved its aim of 15-18 races.
His old FIA equivalent Max Mosley was another advocate for cancelling the 2020 championship and similarly dismissive of F1’s willingness to wait to start the season and to hold races without fans.
Fortunately for F1, those two aren’t calling the shots anymore. It’s a little later than intended – six races have already been run – but a final 2020 schedule has been set and subject to further disruptions caused by the pandemic the season will comprise 17 grands prix.
It’s not that long ago, only 11 years in fact, that 17 races was considered a perfectly fine season.
This is a significant achievement for F1 and Liberty Media, one that has been earned through a careful blend of patience when circumstances were out of their control and perseverance when the goal became achievable but difficult.
It’s a testament to the efforts from F1 and the FIA that after thousands and thousands of tests since the 2020 season began in such a controlled manner at the start of July, the number of positive COVID-19 cases within the paddock can be counted on one hand. Minimal travel has helped, but F1 has still raced in four countries already.
Keep in mind that alongside this extraordinarily complex calendar puzzle – which has resulted in left-field additions of Mugello, Nurburgring, Algarve, Imola, and Istanbul – Liberty and the FIA have postponed new technical rules to 2022, enforced the reduction of the incoming budget cap for next season, and got all 10 teams to sign up to a new, fairer Concorde Agreement.
Many doubted the likelihood of F1 hitting its target of 15-18 races this year. Some even questioned the sincerity of that target, the suggestion being F1 was interested in nothing more than making the right noises at the right times. Some were adamant teams would collapse and promoters would go out of business.
This year is different. It will have an asterisk by it in all our memories, but not in the history books and not in terms of legitimacy
Such cynics have gone quiet, but this is a moment to give credit where it is due.
This is not the end of a challenging environment for the parties involved, for races without fans continue to pose a difficult financial question to F1, the circuits and the teams.
But it is something of a great victory for F1 at a time of immense difficulty for so many.
Liberty’s prime motivation will be protecting its revenue streams as much as possible in the short, medium and long-term because the damage the championship would have suffered without a 2020 season would have been severe. Its efforts have not been in the name of charity.
But there are many thousands of livelihoods at stake around F1, not to mention the many millions who derive joy from its existence. A responsible, successful resumption of the season has been about much more than lining the pockets of the uber-wealthy.
Those who suggest otherwise are probably equally as dismissive about what this championship will mean if/when it becomes Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes’ seventh F1 title. The notion that this is a diminished season is out there. And it is a nonsense suggestion.
Should we go back through history and discredit every champion from a season with 17 races or fewer? Of course not. Should we strip it of its credibility because extraordinary circumstances have compressed the geographical spread and stopped it satisfying an arbitrary definition of ‘world championship’? Not at all.
This year is different. It will have an asterisk by it in all our memories, but not in the history books and not in terms of legitimacy. Those that win this year will do so in unprecedented circumstances – time away from loved ones, restricted movements, disrupted routines, unusual circuits, and a hectic schedule.
This season is a unique challenge, an unexpected anomaly, and unlike anything everybody expected it to be.
Will Hamilton feel like his Michael Schumacher-equalling seventh title won’t be a proper title? No chance.
Will the mechanics that have pulled off triple-header after triple-header feel this season wasn’t a real season? No chance.
Will those who have negotiated with authorities and powers-that-be for months to make this happen feel like they’ve put together a half-baked championship? No chance.
Cast your mind back to the eve of the would-be season opener in Australia, the disarray and ignorance that seemed determined to force a grand prix to happen just as the world was descending into coronavirus chaos, and the massive uncertainty that followed in the days and weeks after.
Crafting a 17-race season, with the help of a few curveball venues, is a mighty turnaround from that.
Will we look and say ‘yeah, but it wasn’t a ‘real’ championship was it’?. No chance.
