Welcome to your ultimate guide to the 2020 Formula One season as Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes look to make history, whilst the youth look to continue their rise and take the fight to their experienced rivals.
Mercedes are looking to win a record-breaking seventh consecutive Constructor title, whilst Lewis Hamilton looks to defend his crown and equal Michael Schumacher’s haul of seven driver titles.
Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen, Alexander Albon, Lando Norris and George Russell meanwhile will look to continue to spearhead a youthful evolution as they look to build on excellent campaigns last season.
This season therefore promises to be one full of surprises as experience battles youth, as we provide you with everything that you need to know ahead of the new campaign.
Teams and Drivers
| Team | Drivers |
| Mercedes | Lewis Hamilton |
| Valtteri Bottas | |
| Ferrari | Charles Leclerc |
| Sebastian Vettel | |
| Red Bull | Max Verstappen |
| Alexander Albon | |
| McLaren | Carlos Sainz |
| Lando Norris | |
| Renault | Daniel Ricciardo |
| Esteban Ocon | |
| Alpha Tauri | Pierre Gasly |
| Daniil Kvyat | |
| Racing Point | Sergio Perez |
| Lance Stroll | |
| Alfa Romeo | Kimi Raikkonen |
| Antonio Giovinazzi | |
| Haas | Kevin Magnussen |
| Romain Grosjean | |
| Williams | George Russell |
| Nicholas Latifi |
Driver Changes
- Alex Albon made his switch to Red Bull permanent towards the end of last season, meaning that Pierre Gasly remains with Alpha Tauri (see Team Changes below).
- Esteban Ocon replaces Nico Hulkenberg who departed Renault and F1 at the end of the 2019 season.
- Nicholas Latifi replaces Robert Kubica at Williams after finishing as the 2019 F2 Vice-Champion. Kubica moved to Alfa Romeo as their Test and Reserve Driver for this season.
Team Changes
- Toro Rosso successfully applied to the FIA to change their name to Alpha Tauri in September 2019, which meant that the ‘Toro Rosso’ brand is discontinued after a 14 season spell in F1 since joining in 2006.
Calendar
| Grand Prix | Circuit | Race Dates |
| Australian GP | Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit | Cancelled* |
| Bahrain GP | Bahrain International Circuit | TBA |
| Vietnamese GP | Hanoi Street Circuit | TBA |
| Chinese GP | Shanghai International Circuit | TBA |
| Dutch GP | Circuit Zandvoort | TBA |
| Spanish GP | Circuit de Catalunya | TBA |
| Monaco GP | Circuti de Monaco | Cancelled* |
| Azerbaijan GP | Baku City Circuit | TBA |
| Canadian GP | Circuit Gilles Villeneuve | TBA |
| French GP | Circuit Paul Ricard | Cancelled* |
| Austrian GP | Red Bull Ring | 3-5 July |
| British GP | Silverstone Circuit | 17-19 July |
| Hungarian GP | Hungaroring | 31 July – 2 August |
| Belgian GP | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps | 28-30 August |
| Italian GP | Autodromo Nazionale Monza | 4-6 September |
| Singapore GP | Marina Bay Street Circuit | 18-20 September |
| Russian GP | Sochi Autodrom | 25-27 September |
| Japanese GP | Suzuka International Racing Course | 9-11 October |
| USA GP | Circuit of the Americas | 23-25 October |
| Mexican GP | Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez | 30 October – 1 November |
| Brazilian GP | Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace | 13-15 November |
| Abu Dhabi GP | Yas Marina Circuit | 27-29 November |
*Australian, Monaco and French Grands Prix were all cancelled due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.
** Bahrain, Vietnamese, Chinese, Dutch, Spanish, Azerbaijan and Canadian Grands Prix are all currently postponed due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, with hope for rescheduling later in season.
Calendar Changes
- Vietnamese Grand Prix was set to make its F1 debut across weekend of 3-5 April on the streets of Hanoi, before being postponed on 13th March alongside Bahrain due to Coronavirus.
- Azerbaijan moves back to its original June slot for the first season since 2017 but precedes the Canadian GP rather than take place afterwards like in 2016 & 17 seasons.
- Dutch Grand Prix returns to the F1 calendar for the first time since 1985 as F1 returns to Circuit Zandvoort across weekend of 1-3 May.
- German Grand Prix is discontinued due to various parties failing to agree a new deal.
- 2020 Chinese Grand Prix has been postponed until later in season due to a coronavirus outbreak in China.
- Australian Grand Prix was cancelled on 13 March (Aussie time) due to the ongoing outbreak of Coronavirus, which saw a member of McLaren test positive.
Rule Changes
- Teams will be granted an extra MGU-K component due to the increased 22 race calendar.
- Drivers who participate in Free Practice sessions will earn FIA Superlicense points, with one additional point awarded if someone completes 100km+ during one Practice session and don’t commit a driving infraction.
- Two pre-season tests have been cut from four days to three to accommodate the extended calendar, whilst in-season testing has been scrapped except for tyre tests with Pirelli who determine when one or two teams at any one time will test new tyres for 2021.
- The waved Checkered Flag will return as the “definitive end of race signal” after various issues with the digital board last season.
- Stewards can now hand out less severe penalties for jump starts and incidents concerning the weigh bridge.
- Front wings now cannot contain metal within the last 50mm in order to reduce punctures.
- Brake ducts must be made and designed by each team instead of being outsourced from other companies.
Records at Risk
As in every F1 season, there is a chance that various records could be broken so here is a short roundup of who could be set to break records this season.
- Mercedes could become the first constructor to win seven consecutive races at a single circuit if they win any of; Russian, Japanese or Abu Dhabi Grands Prix.
- Hamilton needs just eight wins to become F1’s record race winner and surpass Michael Schumacher’s haul of 91 race victories, whilst just five podiums would see Hamilton replace Schumacher as F1’s all-time record podium finisher.
- A seventh consecutive constructor title would see Mercedes become the first F1 team to achieve seven consecutive constructor titles.
- If Max Verstappen wins the championship this season, he will become F1’s youngest ever World Champion.
- Kimi Raikkonen will break Rubens Barrichello’s record 326 GP entries if he starts 12 or more races this season. He also needs just 11 race starts to break Barrichello’s record 322 GP starts.
- Romain Grosjean could break the record for most F1 podiums without a win if he goes through this season without taking a race victory.