F1 bosses want teams to sign up for 22-race season for 2020
FORMULA ONE bosses have been sweet-talking teams into agreeing a record 22-race season for 2020.
F1 CEO Chase Carey met key figures within the paddock yesterday to outline the sport’s plans for next season.
And that includes the addition of Vietnam and Dutch GPs, plus the potential retention of the Spanish GP.
Work is going on at both the road race in Hanoi and Zandvoort with both sites expected to meet the deadlines in order to host GPs next season.
The German GP is expected to be struck off the list in 2020, along with the Spanish GP.
But there is now a growing belief that the race in Barcelona will be offered a one-year deal, taking the total to 22 races.
Meanwhile, Ferrari were left feeling sick as a dog while Lewis Hamilton WAS as sick as a dog — but the Championship leader still grabbed pole for today’s German GP in Hockenheim.
'NOT FEELING GOOD'
The battling Brit fought off illness to romp to top spot in his Mercedes, while Ferrari duo Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc suffered a double retirement.
Hamilton complained of feeling unwell before qualifying.
And Mercedes were even lining up Esteban Ocon to stand in for the world champion, who was given a night off from sponsor commitments so he could get an early night.
Hamilton said: “I wasn’t feeling good this morning. I have a sore throat, so we prepped just in case I would not be able to do the session.
“We were prepared to put the second driver in the car in the worst-case scenario. I got through, so good.”
MERC IN JUAN BIG KNEES-UP
MERCEDES got in the 1950s spirit to toast two landmarks.
Lewis Hamilton and his team wore retro outfits to mark their 200th Formula One race, while this week also saw the 125th anniversary of Mercedes-Benz in motorsport.
The Silver Arrows made their F1 debut in 1954 when Juan Manuel Fangio won the French GP.
Mercedes staff enlisted the help of a TV production company who supplied outfits from that decade for boss Toto Wolff and their engineering staff, while their mechanics got special 50s boilersuits and flat caps.
