16/06/2020
NEWS STORY
Understandably fearing that two races at the same venue just days apart will most likely produce the same result, F1 - as is its wont - has been looking at ways of trying to ensure this doesn't happen without resorting to "gimmicks".
Its hopes of a reverse-grid qualifying race thwarted by Mercedes, F1 has been looking at other options.
In Bahrain, there is talk of two races, one using the 'traditional' F1 layout and a second using the outer "almost oval" track.
At Silverstone, the tyre compounds used in the second race, the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, will be one step harder than hose used at the British Grand Prix just days earlier, while at the Red Bull Ring there is no discernible difference between the two events.
While the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone both feature alternative track configurations used for various other race series, race director, Michael Masi has explained why neither was considered as an option for F1.
"From a regulatory perspective, there is nothing stopping it," he tells Speedcafe. "Unfortunately we didn't have that option so much for either Austria or Silverstone," he added.
Fact is, while the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone Grand Prix layouts both have the mandatory FIA grade 1 licence, the alternative configurations do not.
On the other hand, the "almost oval" at Bahrain does.
"If there are other events, such as Bahrain, that come up with that, and it's seen as another way of trying to achieve something, then why not?" says Masi.
"The big part is, we want to maintain the integrity of the championship, A" he adds, "and B, ensure that, wherever possible, that we can provide a good spectacle for the viewing public, be they television or, hopefully by that point in time, later in the year, with some luck, face-to-face."