Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic The
2020 Formula One World Championship was heavily affected by the
COVID-19 pandemic. Most of the originally planned
Grands Prix were cancelled or postponed, prompting the
FIA to draft a new calendar. The Portuguese Grand Prix did not feature on the original 2020 schedule, but was added in July 2020 in order to maximise the number of races in the season. Up to 45,000 fans were initially expected to attend the race. However, due to a surge of cases attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, the number of fans allowed to attend the race was later reduced to 27,500.
Entrants Ten teams (each representing a different
constructor) each entered two drivers. The drivers and teams were the same as those on the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for either the race or practice.
Tyres Sole Formula One tyre manufacturer
Pirelli brought their C1, C2 and C3 compound tyres for teams to use in the race, the three hardest compounds available. Pirelli also tested the tyre compounds during the first 30 minutes of the second practice session.
Other Former
Renault and
Caterham driver
Vitaly Petrov was given the role of driver steward for the weekend, however was required to depart the role during the weekend following the death of his father.
Bruno Correia, the Safety Car driver for
Formula E and the
World Touring Car Cup and a local to Portimão, took his place for the remainder of the weekend. ==Practice==