Formula One set for 20 races in 2013

Reuters: Formula One could have 20 races again next season after the sport’s governing body said on Wednesday it had pencilled in an unspecified European race to make up for a postponed grand prix in New Jersey.

The International Automobile Federation (FIA) said in a statement that the German Grand Prix has been moved from 14 July to 7 July with 21 July now ‘reserved for another F1 European event’ subject to approval of national bodies.

That date would be back-to-back with Hungary on 28 July while Germany would follow on immediately from the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on 30 June, according to the previous provisional calendar.

Istanbul, where the FIA is currently meeting, would be one likely option with renewed talk in recent days of the Turkish Grand Prix making a return to the calendar after being dropped this year. France, which has returned to the frame with either its Magny-Cours circuit or Le Castellet in the south, could be another possibility. Formula One had a record 20 races this season but the absence of New Jersey, which had been due to make its debut with a race on 16 June while Valencia dropped off the list, had reduced that to 19.