Hamilton targets record as F1 returns after lengthy COVID-19 hiatus

Defending champion Lewis Hamilton will be targetting Michael Schumacher's record when Formula One returns this weekend after the 2019-20 season was savaged due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Austria's Red Bull Ring in Spielberg will play host to the first race of the season, which otherwise would have been the 11th race on the normal calendar.

Six-time champion Hamilton, who is gunning to equal Schumacher's all-time record of seven titles, stated recently that everyone will have to follow changes put in place by the authorities for the sport to operate successfully in the wake of the pandemic.

"We are preparing the best way we can for what is going to be the most difficult season that Formula 1 and all of us has experienced," Hamilton told Mercedes earlier this week as per Sky Sports.

"With the difficult times that we're facing and the changes that we have to make in order to operate."

Several laws have been put in place for safety of everyone involved which will see the F1 in a brand new avatar altogether.

Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel, who had earlier announced that this will be his final year with Ferrari, expressed his happiness with the prospect of getting back on the circuit after the long enforced break.

We've been waiting now for quite a long time - and it has started to feel like a long time," Vettel told Ferrari as per Sky Sports.

"Having a tease in Mugello was nice but getting back in the real car for the real thing is definitely what we are looking forward to. Going racing, competing with the others "Austria is a place that I like and a circuit that I like so it's good to know that we are finally allowed to get back," he added.

Meanwhile in a noble gesture, Mercedes will have black-liveried cars in the 2020 season as the world champions aim to make a visual stand against racism and for diversity in the wake of 'Black Lives Matter' campaign.

Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas will race black-liveried Mercedes cars.

Further, Formula One drivers have also discussed 'taking a knee' at the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix as per reports.

McLaren's Lando Norris has said: "If we are going to do it, we should all do it as a grid.

"We will do whatever we can to show we care and respect everyone. We will do what is right when the time comes," he was quoted as saying by BBC.

The 2020 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 take place a week after that, before a break. Then there will be two back-to-back races at Silverstone (August 2 & 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.