held on this layout. At it was shorter than the 'Grand Prix' layout, which had been used for the Bahrain Grand Prix the week prior. The race was contested over 87 laps to exceed the race distance mandated by the regulations. Lap times in all sessions were under one minute. The only other World Championship Grand Prix weekend where sub-one minute lap times had been achieved was the 1974 French Grand Prix at Dijon-Prenois. McLaren driver Lando Norris likened the layout's high speed nature to the Thruxton circuit in the United Kingdom, whilst regular Williams driver George Russell said he expected the layout to be "bonkers". Renault driver Daniel Ricciardo expressed his hope that the circuit would provide good overtaking opportunities, with Carlos Sainz Jr. of McLaren suggesting that choosing the correct setup, particularly downforce levels, would be difficult. Some drivers declared themselves unhappy with the circuit layout after driving it in the Friday free practice sessions. Drivers such as Sainz Jr. and Max Verstappen feared potential safety issues during the first and second knockout sessions in qualifying, with the high probability of close proximity between cars on track due to the short lap distance and the potential huge discrepancies in closing speeds between cars, particularly in the early parts of qualifying, with Sainz saying the layout "was on the verge of being dangerous" and urging the FIA to take action. Verstappen also described the layout as "not the most exciting" while Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel called the layout "too short" and his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc said the circuit reminded him of his karting days. Despite driver concerns of the exceptionally short laptime creating traffic problems in qualifying, the FIA confirmed they would not relax the sport's rules on impeding during qualifying and that penalties would still be handed out to any driver found guilty of impeding a competitor. Entrants The drivers and teams were the same as the pre-season entry list with three exceptions: debutant Pietro Fittipaldi replaced Romain Grosjean for Haas, after the latter's crash at the previous week's Bahrain Grand Prix. World Champion Lewis Hamilton tested positive for the coronavirus the week before the race and, in accordance with Bahrain and FIA protocols, he was declared unfit to participate. This marked the first time that Hamilton did not take part in a Formula One race since his debut at the 2007 Australian Grand Prix. Williams driver and