Silverstone sets April 30 deadline for British GP

Michelle Foster
Lewis Hamilton Silverstone

Lewis Hamilton wants F1 to "spice it up" when staging two back-to-back races at Silverstone

Silverstone will decide before the “end of April” whether the British Grand Prix will take its July 17th slot or join a growing list of postponed races.

Formula 1 should be two races into the 2020 season and on its way to Vietnam for the inaugural Hanoi street race.

Instead countries are in lockdown and the Formula 1 teams are on summer break while some, such as McLaren, place staff on furlough in order to save money.

As things stand Canada is down to open the season with its grand prix scheduled for mid-June.

The organisers have given themselves another week or two to make the call about whether to run the grand prix or not.

After Canada should come France, Austria and then Great Britain.

Silverstone, though, is already considering postponing its grand prix with promoters saying they will make a decision by the end of April.

“Silverstone and Formula 1 remain in close dialogue regarding the ongoing situation and are assessing the feasibility of holding the British Grand Prix on 17-19 July,” a statement read.

“We fully appreciate that other UK sporting events in July have taken decisions regarding their events, but it is important to highlight that their logistics and sporting arrangements differ from Silverstone’s and, therefore, our timeline gives us until the end of April to make a final decision.

“The safety of our fans, colleagues and the F1 community will be our priority and we will continue to engage with the appropriate authorities.”

While the Silverstone organisers debate that, Wimbledon has announced that the annual grass court grand slam has been cancelled.

Wimbledon was scheduled to run from late June to mid July.

It is the first time since World War Two that the prestigious grass tournament has been scrapped.

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