The Formula One season will not be canceled if a driver tests positive for the coronavirus or if a team withdraws, said its boss Chase Carey.
F1 wants to avoid a repeat of the inaugural race in March in Australia. That test was canceled when the McLaren team withdrew because one of its employees tested positive for the virus.
The championship will resume with a pair of races in Austria on July 5 and 12.
“A person who has tested positive for the infection will not cause a race to be canceled,” Carey said in an interview on the F1 website. I could not outline the consequences. But we will have a procedure in place that finding an infection will not lead to a cancellation. If a driver is infected, (the teams have) reserve drivers available ”.
F1 teams face a much more complex situation when reactivated in contrast to other sports, since its staging requires the transfer of a large group of people from one country to another.
According to Carey, the members of each team will undergo coronavirus tests before traveling to a race and then every other day.
Carey described the plan as “living in a bubble” from the moment of flying charter planes and that they will likely have “sub bubbles” inside it to keep personnel who fulfill different functions at a distance.
“We are aware that our sport is one in which sometimes two meters of distance between each individual member of a team cannot be maintained,” said Carey. “When a car enters the pits to change the four tires, it will not be possible to maintain the two meters between each individual. We need to ensure we have the procedures to deal with these risks as soon as possible. ” AP (HN)