Monaco Grand Prix cancelled as coronavirus pandemic leaves Formula One 2020 season in disarray

Scrapped: The Monaco Grand Prix has been cancelled for the F1 2020 season.
Getty Images
Joe Krishnan19 March 2020

The Formula One Monaco Grand Prix, the most famous race on the calendar, has been cancelled for the 2020 season.

Formula One had announced on Thursday that three races - the Dutch, Spanish and Monaco Grands Prix - were to be postponed and the season is likely to start in June.

But the race season will be cut to 21 races at the maximum after the Automobile Club de Monaco (ACM) said uncertainty about the teams' participation and border controls, with neighbouring Italy in lockdown, made the situation 'untenable' and postponement was impossible.

It means there will be no race weekend on the streets of Monaco for the first time since 1954, although the race will return to the 2021 calendar.

"Under no circumstances will it be possible to organise these events later this year," said the ACM.

In Pictures | Monaco Grand Prix 2019

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Ferrari's Charles Leclerc races under the Monegasque flag while Mercedes' six-times world champion Lewis Hamilton and several other drivers also live in the French principality.

The announcement about Monaco, a highlight of the motorsport season scheduled for May 24, came as the Mediterranean principality revealed its ruler Prince Albert had tested positive for the virus.

The 10 teams and the sport's top officials earlier agreed unanimously in a conference call to delay the implementation of technical changes that have been years in the planning.

Additional reporting from Reuters.

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