Global sporting events have been on hold for months due to the pandemic, and this has made popular athletes like LeBron James itch to return to action in order to earn money entertain fans again. It’s the same with the premier motorsports discipline, Formula 1. Although if we’re being honest about it, entertaining fans is not the principal reason F1 stakeholders wish to restart as soon as they possibly can. With all the money involved in this high-speed business—just look at all the corporate decals on the cars—it’s easy to see why the organizers, the team owners and the drivers themselves are raring to take to the racetrack once again.

Well, it seems the powers-that-be in the sport are finally getting their wish granted. This weekend, the first of the eight approved races (so far) for the year—all to be held in Europe—will take place in Austria. Here is the schedule:

• Austrian Grand Prix– July 5
• Styrian Grand Prix – July 12
• Hungarian Grand Prix – July 19
• British Grand Prix – August 2
• 70th Anniversary Grand Prix – August 9
• Spanish Grand Prix – August 16
• Belgian Grand Prix – August 30
• Italian Grand Prix – September 6

The races, as earlier announced, will be closed-door events. Which means there won’t be spectators to watch the proceedings. The organizers have said that they will consider opening the gates to fans later in the year, assuming things vastly improve where the coronavirus is concerned. Also, races beyond this first batch will be finalized and revealed in the coming weeks—if they’re happening at all.

Let us repeat: F1 is not restarting for the fans. They’re doing this because there is so much money to lose if they don’t. We hope they can pull this off without compromising anyone’s safety. Our only problem now is finding a place where we can watch the races (we don’t have cable TV, and we used to follow F1 at crowded sports bars).

Oh, well.