Bill Gates is slated to attend the opening 'ghost race' of 2020 in Austria.

Austrian reports suggest that Red Bull owner and fellow billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz has personally invited the American magnate - who made his money at Microsoft and now fronts the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation - to attend.

When asked about the Gates story, Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko told Kronen Zeitung newspaper: "This is not my role.

"I just took care that the mission to start Formula 1 in Spielberg was completed successfully. Everything else will be announced by Projekt Spielberg and Red Bull."

Former F1 driver Giancarlo Fisichella backs the sport's decision to return in July with races featuring no spectators.

"It doesn't change much for the driving because you are very focused, but outside of the cockpit they will certainly miss something," he told Italy's Radio 1.

"The important thing is to start again and see how the rest of the calendar evolves," Fisichella added. "But if Ferrari and Mercedes have a better car we could see them winning two consecutive races."

Marko agrees that F1 pushing ahead with the 'ghost race' re-start in Austria is "extremely important" for the sport.

"Everyone knew that when a race was confirmed, it would trigger a domino effect and that is what happened," he said. "At the moment, eight races are already fixed."