The new year brings new a new cheer for racing fans across the globe with the start of the biggest traveling racing circus in the world - The FIA Formula 1 World Championship. This season is going to be the 71st Formula 1 World Championship and will feature the longest race calendar yet with 22 races competed across 5 continents throughout the year.
With 10 teams and 20 drivers in competition to be crowned world and driver champions, the season will kick off down under on March 13, 2020, at the Australian Grand Prix in Circuit Albert Park and end 22 races later on November 20, 2020, under the lights at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. 2020 is going to be the longest Formula 1 season yet, as the circus is set to travel to one new location and make a comeback at another. The season will see Vietnam host its first-ever Formula 1 race at the new purpose-built street circuit in Hanoi and racing will resume at the legendary Dutch Grand Prix in The Netherlands this season after a 35-year hiatus at the newly remodelled Zandvoort Circuit Park.
This season the teams have to not only continuously develop and better their 2020 competitors throughout the season but also have a herculean task on hand to develop the 2021 cars from the ground up within the new FIA regulations that are all set to kick in from the 2021 season. With teams having to stick to a budget cap from the 2021 season, this could be the most expensive season for Formula 1 teams in a race to develop not one but two completely different cars this season.
The 2019 season had some amazing racing and battles with Ferrari taking the cake with the inter driver rivalry between Charles Leclerc and four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel. The season started with Vettel being No. 1 in the team, which changed when Charles Leclerc won the Ferrari home race at Monza and outperformed his counterpart on the track multiple times in his first full season with Ferrari. Vettel had a rather disappointing season with multiple mistakes and winning only once in Singapore. 2020 is set to provide a thrilling and exciting competition between these two teammates.
The midfield battle between Renault, McLaren and Torro Rosso (Alpha Tauri from 2020) was an intense battle with McLaren taking the best of the rest position from their engine supplier and works for team Renault Racing and the only Spaniard on the grid and smooth operator Carlos Sainz taking a deserving 6th place in the championship by just 1 point from previous RedBull and current Torro Rosso driver Pierre Gasly. Hass had a disappointing season with their car being completely wrong in their design concept. Williams had another season to forget, but British rookie George Russel broke a record by beating his more experienced teammate Kubica 21-0 in the head to head qualifying battle.
With the past few seasons being a breeze for Mercedes Benz Formula 1 team and current driver World Champion Lewis Hamilton, the 2020 season is shaping up to be a nail-biter with both Ferrari and RedBull-Honda showing good progress to clinch multiple wins in the 2019 season are signs that they are closing the gap to the dominant Mercedes team. With McLaren also showing great progress on their fundamental designs and significant performance improvements, the 2020 season could very well be a 4-way title fight to the line.
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