70th Anniversary Grand Prix

The opening rounds of the 2020 championship were heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Several Grands Prix were cancelled or postponed after the aborted opening round in Australia, prompting the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile to draft a new calendar. The start of the championship was delayed until 5 July, with the Red Bull Ring hosting the Austrian Grand Prix. Organisers of the British Grand Prix signed a contract with Liberty Media, the sport's commercial rights holder, to host a second round at Silverstone on 9 August, following the British Grand Prix the previous weekend.[2] This race was named the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix in recognition of seventy years of the Formula One World Championship.[3]

There had been doubts over whether Silverstone would be able to host Formula One due to quarantine measures proposed by the British government,[4] hopes were raised again by an apparent intervention by the Prime Minister Boris Johnson encouraging his ministers to give Formula One an exemption for racing to go ahead.[5] The British Government did give approval for Formula One at Silverstone.[6] The creation of this race means that for the first time in twenty-seven years that the United Kingdom will host two Formula One races in the same season. The last season to have two British races in a season prior to this was the 1993 season when Donington Park hosted the European Grand Prix and Silverstone hosted the British Grand Prix.[7]

Pirelli will bring the C2, C3 and C4 compound tyres for teams teams to use in the race. By contrast the 2020 British Grand Prix due to be held on the same circuit layout the week before will see the C1, C2 and C3 selection used. This has been done to try and add strategic interest to the second race and prevent repetitiveness. This comes after plans to have reverse grids at tracks hosting two consecutive events were opposed by Mercedes.[8]