What’s new in 2020: Your guide to the F1 season ahead

The new year is upon us and the countdown to the 2020 F1 season is underway.

What’s new for the season ahead? Here’s all the confirmed changes announced so far.

Drivers, teams and engines

Following the huge upheaval in the driver market last season, almost every driver has remained at the same team during the off-season. Out of the 20 drivers in the field, 18 will start the new season in the same seats they ended last year.

The exception are at Renault and Williams. Renault tried to get Esteban Ocon in one of their cars for 2019, but pounced on the opportunity to sign Daniel Ricciardo. Ocon spent a year on the sidelines, but has now been recruited in place of Nico Hulkenberg, who finds himself without a race seat for the first time since 2011.

While Ocon should be eyeing the possibility of regular points finishes and a few podium finishes at Renault, Williams’ new signing Nicholas Latifi will have to set his sights much lower, as the team finished last for the second season running in 2019. He arrives in place of Robert Kubica, who is seeking a reserve role at another team while he hopes to combine with a DTM race seat.

None of the teams are changing engine suppliers during the winter break but one of them will have a new name when the season starts – Red Bull’s junior team Toro Rosso is becoming Alpha Tauri, the name of a Red Bull-owned fashion brand.

• Kubica closing on Alfa Romeo deal for 2020
• 2020 F1 drivers and teams

Races

The 2020 F1 calendar is the longest in the history of the sport, with a record-breaking 22 races. This is despite Germany’s round of the championship dropping off the calendar.

The only brand-new addition to the championship this year is Vietnam’s new street circuit in Hanoi, which should be ready in time to hold its first race in just four months’ time.

Hanoi’s race will be followed less than a month later by F1’s first visit to Zandvoort for 35 years. The track has been revamped since Niki Lauda won the last Dutch Grand Prix in 1985, but some of its most distinctive corners including Tarzan and Scheivlak will remain.

• 2020 F1 calendar

Get the 2020 F1 race dates in your calendar

Make sure you don’t miss any of the F1 action in 2020 – add all the dates to your calendar below and view it on a range of mobile devices:

• F1 calendar

What’s changed in the rules…

With F1 planning a huge overhaul of the rules for 2021, not much has changed in the regulations this year. The technical regulations in particular remain largely unchanged.

There are a few tweaks to the sporting regulations, however. Penalties for missing the weigh bridge and making jump starts have been relaxed, and the traditional chequered flag has been reinstated as the official end-of-race signal.

There are also a few minor tweaks to the technical rules coming for next season. The most noticeable of these will require teams to add small ‘shark fins’ on their engine covers where their car numbers will be displayed.

There are other changes to prevent teams storing large amounts of excess fuel outside their fuel tanks, stop them using clutch designs to assist drivers in making good starts, and other minor detail changes.

• The ‘baby shark fin’ and other F1 tech tweaks coming for 2020

…and what hasn’t

Several other changes were considered for next season but did not gain approval. These included a plan to introduce the number of mandatory pit stops from one to two.

Two proposed changes to qualifying also did not gain favour. Early last year teams discussed adding a fourth round to qualifying – ‘Q4’ – but this was not approved. Nor was a more contentious plan to hold reverse-grid ‘qualifying races’ at three of this year’s races.

Show who you’re supporting in 2020

Which drivers and teams are you supporting in 2020? Show who you’re backing this year.

Here’s how to show who you’re supporting on RaceFans:

• Log in with your RaceFans account (Don’t have a RaceFans account? You can sign up here to get one)
• Select Edit My Profile from the top-right menu
• Select F1 Teams and Drivers
• Make your selections then click Save Changes

Video: What’s new in Formula 1 for 2020

2020 F1 season

• Pictures: Wrecked chassis from Grosjean’s Bahrain fireball crash to go on display
• Bottas vs Rosberg: Hamilton’s Mercedes team mates compared after 78 races each
• F1 revenues fell by $877 million in Covid-struck 2020 season
• Hamilton and Mercedes finally announce new deal for 2021 season
• F1 audience figures “strong” in 2020 despite dip in television viewers

Browse all 2020 F1 season articles