Formula 1 back in İstanbul after 9 years
* Photo: Flickr
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The Turkish Grand Prix has been added to the calendar of Formula 1 after an interval of nine years. Held in İstanbul for seven times from 2005 to 2011, Turkey has been added to the 2020 calendar, which has been revised due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Accordingly, Turkey's Intercity İstanbul Park in Tuzla will host a Grand Prix to be run on November 13-15, 2020. It will be this year's 14th round and will mark the 8th Grand Prix to be hosted by Turkey.
It has not yet been announced whether the audience will be accepted into İstanbul Park, considering the pandemic measures expected to be taken.
While the season will last shorter this year due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the organizers previously cancelled the races in South and North America and moved them all to European countries.
Formula 1 has announced the decision to add Turkey to the calendar again has also been announced on social media:
BREAKING: The Turkish Grand Prix is back!
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 25, 2020
F1 will also be making two trips to Bahrain, before heading to Abu Dhabi in mid-December. #F1 pic.twitter.com/gmMjcWGiSg
'They will be open to a limited number of fans'
Formula 1 has made the following statement about this year's races:
"We can confirm that Turkey, Bahrain, and Abu Dhabi will be part of the revised season and want to express our thanks to the hard work of all our promoters and partners in making this 17-race season possible.
"Sadly, we will not be racing in China this season and want to thank our partner Juss Sports for their support and engagement in recent months and hugely look forward to returning to Shanghai next year.
"We can confirm that a number of races in the revised 2020 season will be open to a limited number of fans, including hospitality, and we are working with each promoter to finalise the details.
"While we want to see as many fans as possible return as soon as it is safe to do so, our priority remains the safety of the Formula 1 community and the communities we visit, and we review fan access on this basis.
"Due to the ongoing fluidity of the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to maintain close dialogue with all promoters and local authorities to ensure we operate in the safest way possible and monitor each national situation closely – including travel restrictions and local health procedures."
(HA/SD)