Motorsport: Formula One facing worsening financial crisis with races in Azerbaijan, Singapore and Japan cancelled

Scenes from the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix will not be repeated in 2020. Photo / Photosport

Formula One faces the prospect of a worsening financial crisis after accepting that grands prix in Azerbaijan, Singapore and Japan can no longer go ahead in 2020, while its three races in the Americas are also in serious doubt.

Although the sport remains confident of reaching its minimum target of a 15-race world championship, with eight summer events in Europe already confirmed, the choice of autumn cancellations is proving a painful one.

The street race in Baku, a fixture on the roster since 2016, is normally F1's highest payer, agreeing to an annual hosting fee in excess of £40 million (NZ$78m).

Similarly, Singapore, with its glittering night-time spectacle at Marina Bay, generates vast commercial revenue.

The absence of Suzuka, arguably the drivers' favourite track, will also be acutely felt, especially as it is likely to be replaced by a Russian double-header at the bland Sochi Autodrom.

For all that F1 is well-advanced in planning its December finale in the Gulf, with two races in Bahrain before the traditional curtain-call in Abu Dhabi, the three-month period that follows Monza, the last scheduled race in Europe on September 6, is far less certain.

The fate of October's US Grand Prix in Texas is precarious, given the ban by Austin's public health department on all major events, while circuit officials in Mexico acknowledged recently that they were vulnerable to "force majeure".

F1 is expected to cancel November's race in Brazil, due to the spiralling rates of Covid-19 in the country and the fact that Interlagos promoters have paid no fee for the past two years.

Teams are already creaking under the strain of the truncated calendar, with McLaren laying off 70 members of their F1 workforce and Williams putting their entire business up for sale.

While F1 has sought to mitigate the financial impact by introducing a budget cap of £115 million (NZ$224m) from 2021, the loss of revenue from the sport's lucrative late-season "fly-aways" threatens to be colossal.

In response, F1 is seeking to flesh out the autumn period by visiting European tracks that have long since disappeared from the rotation.

The San Marino Grand Prix, last held at Imola in 2006, is a strong contender, while the sport also hopes to stage events at Mugello, a Ferrari testing track in Tuscany, and the Algarve track of Portimao, not used by F1 in any capacity since 2009.

"We have been particularly encouraged by the interest shown by new venues in hosting a race during 2020," an F1 spokesperson said.