London, June 2 (IANS): Formula 1 on Tuesday confirmed that the 2020 season will begin in Austria next month and revealed details on the first eight races of a new calendar in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

The season will kick off with the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring on July 5, followed a week later by a second race at the same track on July 12.

The Hungarian Grand Prix will follow a week after that, before a break. Then there will be two back to back races at Silverstone (August 2 and August 9), followed by the Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona (August 16).

The Belgian Grand Prix will follow that on August 30, with the Italian Grand Prix at Monza a week later on September 6. All the races will be supported by Formula 2 and Formula 3.

Chase Carey, Chairman and CEO of Formula 1, said: "We are pleased to be able to set out our opening eight race calendar today and look forward to publishing our full calendar in the coming weeks.

"While we currently expect the season to commence without fans at our races we hope that over the coming months the situation will allow us to welcome them back once it is safe to do, but we know the return of Formula 1 will be a welcome boost to sports fans around the world," he added.