Formula One: Season finale in Abu Dhabi to be held with ‘limited fans’
Yas Marina to host twilight race on December 13 to bring the curtains down
Dubai: The season finale of the 2020 Formula One calendar will be held in Abu Dhabi on December 13 with ‘‘a limited number of fans,’’ according to a F1 press release.
Races in Turkey, Abu Dhabi and two in Bahrain will take place in November and December, completing the heavily reshaped calendar and marking the latest finish to an F1 season since 1963.
It takes the number of races in the 2020 season to 17, which is the fewest staged in a year since 2009.
After a first Turkish Grand Prix at Istanbul Park in nine years on November 15, Bahrain will stage back-to-back races on November 29 and December 6. The season will finish with the twilight race at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on December 13.
The Chinese Grand Prix, which had been postponed, will not take place in 2020.
‘‘We can confirm that a number of races in the revised 2020 season will be open to a limited number of fans, including hospitality,’’ Formula One said in a statement, ‘‘and we are working with each promoter to finalize the details.’’
It did not specify which races would be open to spectators.
The Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend will be the seventh race of a season that is being packed into 5 1/2 months.
Lewis Hamilton holds a 37-point lead over Max Verstappen as the British driver seeks to become world champion for a seventh time, tying Michael Schumacher’s record.