Washington: Formula One has confirmed that the planned race in the United States has been cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic. Along with it, Formula One also removed the Mexico City Grand Prix, the Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo and the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal from this year's schedule.
“The cancellation is prudent, but painful,” Bobby Epstein, COTA founding partner, said in a release on Twitter.
“It is my hope that the pandemic will soon pass and we will celebrate 2021 with the greatest Formula One United States Grand Prix ever,” Epstein said.
The race in the US was scheduled to take place at Circuit of the Americas in Texas' Austin in October, but the state has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic since its reopening.
Formula One said the decision was "due to the fluid nature of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, local restrictions and the importance of keeping communities and our colleagues safe", and had been made after ongoing discussions and close collaboration with the respective partners in the affected countries, according to formula1.com.
Chase Carey, Chairman and CEO of Formula 1, said: "We want to pay tribute to our incredible partners in the Americas and look forward to being back with them next season when they will once again be able to thrill millions of fans around the world."
The 2020 F1 calendar currently comprises of 13 races, with new events announced in Portimao, Imola and Nurburgring.
The open-wheel race series is running all over Europe, however. Organizers just added races in Germany, Portugal and Italy to the schedule.
