COVID-19: Formula 1 CEO Chase Carey hopeful of 15-18 races in 2020 season

Formula One group Chief Executive Officer Chase Carey hopes that the 2020 season can still feature 15-18 races despite the wave of cancellations due to coronavirus outbreak.

"Over the past week, Formula 1, the ten F1 teams and the FIA have come together and taken rapid, decisive action as part of our initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic," said Carey in an official statement.

"While at present no-one can be certain of exactly when the situation will improve, it will improve and when it does, we will be ready to go racing again. We are all committed to bringing our fans a 2020 Championship Season," he added.

On Monday, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix became the eight race of the year to be postponed after the Australian, Bahrain, Vietnam, Chinese, Dutch, Spanish and Monaco Grands Prix - as the coronavirus continues to rage.

"We recognise there is significant potential for additional postponements in currently scheduled events, nonetheless we and our partners fully expect the season to start at some point this summer, with a revised calendar of between 15-18 races," said Carey.

The highly infectious disease which originated from Wuhan, China in December last year has so far claimed over 14,000 lives while infected more than 3,00,000 people worldwide.