OXFORDSHIRE’S Formula 1 teams will be back in business in just four weeks’ time.
The long coronavirus shutdown will end on July 5 after a new calendar was officially released.
Austria, originally the tenth race of 2020, will host the first two Grands Prix on successive weekends.
The paddock will then move to Hungary and after a blank week it will be the turn of Silverstone on August 2 and 9.
From there the campaign will visit Spain, Belgium and Italy by the start of September.
All races are expected to be staged behind closed doors with a minimum number of team personnel at the circuit.
A statement from the series organisers said: “Due to the ongoing fluidity of the COVID-19 situation internationally, we will be finalising the details of the wider calendar and hope to publish that in the coming weeks with an expectation of having a total of 15-18 races before we complete our season in December.
“We currently expect the opening races to be closed events, but hope fans will be able to join our events again when it is safe to do so.”
There had been question marks over Silverstone’s place on the calendar due to concerns over a quarantine programme due to be introduced by the UK Government, impacting travellers arriving into the UK from June 8.
However, elite sports events are set to be exempt from the quarantine period, enabling racing to go ahead at the Northamptonshire circuit.
It is a home race for three teams with bases in Oxfordshire.
Williams and Renault have started reopening their operations at Grove and Enstone respectively.
And the announcement was welcomed by both drivers at Haas, who have a factory at Banbury.
“That’s great news,” Kevin Magnussen said in a message to supporters.
“ I’m looking forward to getting back in the car.
“I know it’s not great you can’t come to the first few races but I hope you will support from home.
“We will try to put on a great show.”
Teammate Romain Grosjean added: “They are amazing tracks, I really love them and I can’t wait to see the team again.”
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