Formula 1 chairman Chase Carey said that Liberty Media is looking at the possibility of "no racing in 2020." Carey said that the sport's owners have discussed with lenders about how they can handle income loss in case the season cannot be staged at all.

However, he expressed confidence in the probability of conducting a 2020 championship season, although he refused to provide any guarantees to the claim. According to the financial figures published by F1, their income fell by 84% during the first quarter of this year.

F1 owner Liberty Media revealed that the sport's revenue during the first quarter of 2020 was £31.6 million ($39 million), which is way lower than the £199 million ($246 million) that it earned in the same period last year.

The records did not include any of the income the authorities received for the two races that were called off in Australia and Bahrain. Neither did it include any revenue generated from the broadcasting rights.

Carey spoke with the sport's investors via a conference call after the organisation released its first-quarter financial results. He admitted that the novel coronavirus pandemic has impacted F1 significantly, and the authorities are figuring out ways to adapt to the scenario.

BBC reports that all the main revenue streams of the sport are facing disruption. Carey said that they are aiming to start the season in Austria on the first weekend of July. He also that it is "likely" that the Austrian Grand Prix would be followed by a second race at the same Red Bull Ring on July 11-12.

Carey said, "We expect the European races to be without fans. We are making good headway on having races that can be secure and safe for everyone. We hope to be able to allow fans to attend in the latter part of the year. We are increasingly positive about the number of locations that will be able and want to host a race this year".

Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix
Formula 1 Photo: AFP / Andrej ISAKOVIC

Carey still believes that it might be possible to have a championship of 15-18 races this year, and that includes a series of European races between August and September. This will be followed by events in Eurasia, Asia, the Americas, and the Middle East.

If such a schedule could be followed, the season could be finished by December 13, 2020.

Carey also added that he is working on figuring out the methods that the teams could follow during the races to minimise the further spread of the coronavirus.