Why F1 2020 will be remembered as a golden year

There is a popular urban legend that the word 'crisis', when written in Chinese, is made up of two characters: one of which represents 'danger' and the other 'opportunity'.

The reality may not quite live up to the romanticism of the idea, which gained momentum when American president John F Kennedy claimed it during campaign speeches, but its widespread use has returned amid the grip that coronavirus has had on the world.

And while not strictly correct (the second character is closer to 'change point' than 'opportunity') it's still a very convenient summary of what has happened in Formula 1 this year. For we have gone from the potential disaster of no races, which could have forced a number of teams out of business, to a rammed calendar packed with exciting races at venues that fans could only have dreamed of 12 months ago.

As more of this year's schedule has fallen into place, F1 has silenced any talk that the 2020 championships may not be as worthy as any previous. In fact, it has moved into territory where actually there is a mounting argument that winning this year's crowns will be more impressive than a regular campaign.

I'll even put forward the case that when we come to look back on the 2020 campaign (providing it's not wrecked by a second wave of the pandemic), that it will be viewed as a golden year when F1 stepped away from the norm and produced something special.

On the one hand, we have the extreme circumstances of teams having to live through unprecedented times of lockdowns, extended factory shutdowns, car freezes, triple headers, regular testing and social distancing requirements. This is an F1 like nothing experienced before.

It's not just team personnel who are being pushed to the extremes, and potential breaking point, by the intensity of the campaign though. We've already seen with Lando Norris in Austria, and Sergio Perez in Hungary, that drivers are having their own niggles too.

Where this year's campaign has the potential to really stand out for fans, though, is the calendar, with F1 picking something old and something new in a bid to get enough races on the schedule.

F1 owner Liberty Media needs applauding for its open-mindedness in being willing to go for venues like Imola and Mugello that will provide a treat for fans, and perhaps a real opportunity for the championship to understand what shape it needs to take in the future.

Like many sporting contests, F1 is all too often affected by people viewing its past as better than the present. Whether it's no overtaking, or too much overtaking through DRS; the same teams winning all the time or too many teams winning making it a lottery. Time and again, sections of its audience have always found reason to complain about the here and now. The recurring theme is that it was always better back then.

F1's 2020 schedule is certainly a calendar for the ages. It's a brilliant pick of the past, present and unknown. So let's enjoy it in the moment and revel in what we've got right now

But thinking the past was only great overlooks the fact that as humans we only seem to recall the highlights. Talk to anyone right now about the Ayrton Senna versus Alain Prost domination in the late 1980s, or the Michael Schumacher glory years with Ferrari in the 2000s, and all you will hear is how great they were and what a thrill F1 was to witness in those moments.

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What has got lost in the mists of time is that, amid all the spectacular moments and the record breaking achievements, were some pretty boring races, and predictable events that were no more exciting that some of the dull races we have on occasion these days. The duller moments have been wiped from our memory banks.

This love affair with the past is why there has been excitement about the return of tracks like Imola and the Nurburgring; and intrigue about venues like Mugello and Portimao that have hosted F1 tests in the past but never were able to get the funding together to be able to hold a grand prix in normal times. Will these venues live up to the hype generated by their most famous moments?

What will be fascinating to see is how each of F1's different types of venue play out in terms of spectacle. We've an old school track in Imola, a high speed challenging venue in Mugello, a modern, undulating medium speed circuit in Portimao and potentially a super-fast 'tri-oval' in Bahrain that should all deliver something unique.

With F1 having been lambasted in the past for all its tracks looking identical, with the same type of slow speed corners leading to the same type of slow chicanes with the same type of features, the variety on offer this year should hopefully be a catalyst for mixing it up.

It is also hugely refreshing that the F1 schedule isn't just a cut and paste of the previous seasons, so teams will face greater uncertainty about set-ups and tactics for venues that aren't on the regular beat. Having identical calendars year in and year out can be just a bit too repetitive.

For too long, F1's key motivating factor in picking where it races was just how many dollars governments were willing to pay out for the privilege of hosting a race. The quality of the action, and the spectacle on offer to fans, was only a secondary consideration.

Now, the coronavirus crisis, which has derailed F1's finances by not allowing fans into races, has offered the opportunity to pick tracks for the right reasons. Thankfully that opportunity wasn't let go.

By the end of this year (especially when thrown in with the Imola two-day race weekend experiment), F1 should have an incredible data set about the type of venues that the series needs in the future; with or without a pandemic to deal with.

Were the old school tracks better? Was Mugello better than a crazy Bahrain oval? Would Portimao be better on the calendar than another race in Europe?

F1's 2020 schedule is certainly a calendar for the ages. It's a brilliant pick of the past, present and unknown. So let's enjoy it in the moment and revel in what we've got right now, and not when we are sitting there with our rose-tinted spectacles in 10 years' time...