F2 and F3 2020 calendars feature Zandvoort over Paul Ricard

Photo by Joe Portlock / LAT Images / FIA F2 Championship

The FIA Formula 2 and Formula 3 Championship calendars for 2020 feature trips to returning Dutch Grand Prix venue Zandvoort in place of Paul Ricard, with F3 also expanding to nine rounds with a season opener in Bahrain.

Both championships continue to support Formula 1 at all of their rounds, with the F2 schedule remaining at 12 events beginning in Bahrain in March and ending in Abu Dhabi in November.

F3 will also start in Bahrain, a circuit that its predecessor GP3 only raced at once in September 2015 in the one-off additional event supporting the World Endurance Championship, having never been part of the nation’s grand prix weekend.

As this year, the F3 season will end in Sochi rather than Abu Dhabi, ahead of the Macau Grand Prix which year becomes a non-championship round for the same cars and teams.

Zandvoort will be the second round of both championships at the start of May as the circuit returns to F1 for the first time since 1985: the same event was also the last time F1’s main feeder series raced at the track, in the inaugural season of Formula 3000.

The circuit has a significant history in F3 meanwhile, both with the annual Masters of Zandvoort event and a regular slot in the European championship that was merged into the FIA F3 series this year.

As per the F1 schedule, Baku moves into a new slot in the F2 calendar at the start of June, between the Monaco and Red Bull Ring dates.

Speaking about F2, series boss Bruno Michel said: “We kept the number of events to the same amount as the previous two years as we have found the right balance between European rounds and overseas race weekends.

?I can confirm that more tracks would have liked to have F2 race there, but as always, we want to ensure that our championship remains affordable by keeping the costs under control and thus the number of events to a total of twelve.?

On F3,?FIA Single-Seater Commission president Stefano Domenicali added: ?The 2020 FIA Formula 3 calendar is an exciting prospect for the many young talents looking to progress up the FIA single-seater pyramid. I am looking forward to seeing how they tackle a new challenge in Bahrain, whilst many will be returning to the fantastic Zandvoort circuit in the Netherlands having raced there in more junior categories. With an additional event giving increased track time and all races supporting Formula 1, there?s no better step up into international single-seater competition.?

2020 F2 and F3 calendar