So what will F1 teams do this year?

[JonoNic]

It's weird to think of COVID-19 being a blessing in disguise for teams because there's actually a cost cap implemented from next year. Wouldn't teams want to iron out any innovative solutions before next year?

[markc]

yep spend this time when the cost cap isnt in place to get an advantage, especially as there's nothing that can be corroborated from on track data as yet... so may as well spend it for 2021!!

[Ringleheim]

Especially if the new car is as bad as I fear it is, Ferrari, in particular, would be insane not to officially go 110% forward on next year's car.

Shift all energy/time/resources/money to that priority RIGHT NOW.

Deal with whatever sort of 2020 season there is as an afterthought.

[JonoNic]

Which innovations would be best to pursue? I guess 2020 will be the year when all the ideas that were on the backburner will be dug up. Think the FIA will be bombarded with teams querying what is legal or not.

[godlameroso]

What else are they going to do? All the money spent on this year's cars have essentially been wasted. I can't see any racing for the forseeable future. Forget about F1 for the next 4 months at the absolute least.

[Rodak]

This is all good and well, but with no income and no championship there will be no money distribution at the end of the year. Teams that depend on prize money to continue, and that's obviously the F1.5 teams, will not have the deep pockets to continue. Sponsors will not be happy that they get no exposure and might, justifiably, demand refunds.

This could very well be the end of F1 as we know it. Why would Mercedes, who will lose massive car sales because of the economic consequences of the virus, continue in F1? I wouldn't, it would make no sense. Liberty Media has huge interest payments to make because of their financed debt to purchase Bernie's baby ($6 billion or so?) and they will be hard pressed to meet those payments.

Probably the happiest people in this whole imbroglio will be the track owners who won't have to lose money each time they put on a race.

[Ringleheim]

This is all good and well, but with no income and no championship there will be no money distribution at the end of the year. Teams that depend on prize money to continue, and that's obviously the F1.5 teams, will not have the deep pockets to continue. Sponsors will not be happy that they get no exposure and might, justifiably, demand refunds.

This could very well be the end of F1 as we know it. Why would Mercedes, who will lose massive car sales because of the economic consequences of the virus, continue in F1? I wouldn't, it would make no sense. Liberty Media has huge interest payments to make because of their financed debt to purchase Bernie's baby ($6 billion or so?) and they will be hard pressed to meet those payments.

Probably the happiest people in this whole imbroglio will be the track owners who won't have to lose money each time they put on a race.

You might want to take a step back off the ledge.

Breathe in through the nose, out through the mouth.

Deep breaths, come on.

In through the nose, out through the mouth.

It's going to be OK.

[Rodak]

No, you might want to step back a bit; I don't like dismissive comments like you have made. You know nothing about me or my history in racing, so stop being demeaning. I'm not hyper-ventilating and certainly am not over reacting. Face the facts, this season is done; the coronavirus is a real issue. Teams that rely on prize money from Liberty Media will suffer.

Tell me why Mercedes should stay in this series; there have been hints they may leave but remain as engine suppliers. Would you, as a business, keep dumping millions of dollars into a F1 team when you knew there would not be a return on investment? They are not in the sport for the thrill of it, and not for reasons other than their bottom line.

So you take a deep breath and think this through as a business and stop being condescending . Formula One is not a sport, it's a business.

[Manoah2u]

No, you might want to step back a bit; I don't like dismissive comments like you have made. You know nothing about me or my history in racing, so stop being demeaning. I'm not hyper-ventilating and certainly am not over reacting. Face the facts, this season is done; the coronavirus is a real issue. Teams that rely on prize money from Liberty Media will suffer.

Tell me why Mercedes should stay in this series; there have been hints they may leave but remain as engine suppliers. Would you, as a business, keep dumping millions of dollars into a F1 team when you knew there would not be a return on investment? They are not in the sport for the thrill of it, and not for reasons other than their bottom line.

So you take a deep breath and think this through as a business and stop being a condescending ass. Formula One is not a sport, it's a business.

calm down and stop panicking, you're definately extremely overreacting.

tell me why Merc would not stay, just because a temporal issue with something that affects sports worldwide?

also, your language is rather inappropriate. calm down.

[AJI]

Tell me why Mercedes should stay in this series; there have been hints they may leave but remain as engine suppliers. Would you, as a business, keep dumping millions of dollars into a F1 team when you knew there would not be a return on investment? They are not in the sport for the thrill of it, and not for reasons other than their bottom line.
.... Formula One is not a sport, it's a business.

You may have a point here...
Mercedes have proved their point, 6 times in a row... Unless the rule change due for 2021 is deferred until 2022 this year's car (for every team) has been a HUGE waste of time and money.
Also, why would Red Bull Honda stay? RB are only in it for marketing a drink. Honda haven't even 100% commited to 2021.
I don't think you're overreacting, this is bad. It's potential the end of F1...

[bosyber]

On the other hand, Honda, while they felt they had to withdraw last time, also felt it was a defeat; added to that the difficult McLaren years and them only now feeling competent and capable of being competitive, they have something to prove both on the race track and off it.

Mercedes is in a different situation, but to be seen to abandon a series over something like this, I don't think that would be a great PR image for them either. Red Bull, well, they might, but it would still look like throwing toys out of the pram as they can clearly afford it; I don't think that they would go.

Clearly, we will have to see how the year goes, and it might be very tough for quite a few teams, as it will be for a lot of smaller and bigger companies, and families all over the world in the coming weeks and months. CFD stuff can be done from home, I suspect; and with presumably less testing, it will be freed up a bit - might very well be redirected to 2021.

[DChemTech]

My main concern is that it will negatively affect the 2021 season. I'm a big fan of new regulations and a cost cap for a more fair competition - but that teams can already work on the 2021 car before the cost cap is effective is beyond me. That will only create a gap that's even harder to bridge for the small/medium teams once the cap is effective. So I don't see shifting even more attention to 2021 now as a positive aspect.

[geogate]

This is just unprecedented. you have thousands of workers at factories with effectively nothing to do. F1 is going to have to come up with some really creative thinking really quick. Its possible to have a TV show at least this season, running more than one race at each track, staying in one location for 3 weeks, flying with chartered flights etc - the thing is, are F1 up to it? I have my doubts

[AJI]

On the other hand, Honda, while they felt they had to withdraw last time, also felt it was a defeat; added to that the difficult McLaren years and them only now feeling competent and capable of being competitive, they have something to prove both on the race track and off it.

They've proven they can produce a race winning PU. A championship would be nice, but it's not as bad as the noughties

Mercedes is in a different situation, but to be seen to abandon a series over something like this, I don't think that would be a great PR image for them either.

It's not abandonment, it's a logical business decision. HPP could still supply PU's, if the series still exists...

Red Bull, well, they might, but it would still look like throwing toys out of the pram as they can clearly afford it; I don't think that they would go.

I disagree. The fact they can't market their product isn't their fault.

Clearly, we will have to see how the year goes, and it might be very tough for quite a few teams...

No races = no marketing. ROI for sponsors has a definitive answer for the first time ever, it's zero. This is bad.
Prize money is based on income. Let's just assume they run the minimum number of races for a WDC/WCC, so, 8. I'm guessing that's somewhere in the realm of 40% of projected income...

CFD stuff can be done from home, I suspect; and with presumably less testing, it will be freed up a bit - might very well be redirected to 2021.

Another reason to defer the rule change to 2022. It's not fair for the small teams.

[izzy]

The factories will work just the same just with less data. No feedback! Correlation is king.

But they have to race don't they, it's just a question of where. No crowd obviously, but a race on TV, not too much travelling... Silverstone? Foreign staff can fly into East Midlands, what do you think?