COVID-19 could affect more races this year.

[Restomaniac]

fact that plenty of smaller towns and villages are almost cut off from the outside world without modern connectivity

Isn't that also why they would see less or no exposure?

All it takes is one case in the area. Due to hardships, communities work together when one is ill. A neighbour will take full responsibility to feed, bathe and medicate the sick. That's a sure fire way to spread the disease.

Exactly.

[izzy]

Hopefully everyone who needs to get out of northern Italy has made it! Then they can't go back tho

edit oh i should've checked the previous page!

[JonoNic]

Bahrain GP will be the first TV-ONLY race. Will anyone notice?

[Wouter]

Bahrain GP will be the first TV-ONLY race. Will anyone notice?

Bahrain International Circuit
42 min.

In consultation with our international partners and the Kingdom’s national health Taskforce, Bahrain has made the decision to hold this year’s Bahrain Grand Prix as a participants-only event.
As an F1 host nation, balancing the welfare of supporters and race goers is a tremendous responsibility. Given the continued spread of Covid-19 globally, convening a major sporting event, which is open to the public and allows thousands of international travellers and local fans to interact in close proximity would not be the right thing to do at the present time.

[f1jcw]

Yep it includes the province of Modena where Maranello is. Unfortunately if the team haven’t already left by tonight they won’t be and if they have they won’t be going back.

I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings but we may have just lost the Australian GP.

Due to one team?
In the past when one team couldn't make a race, it was not cancelled.

Yes this has already been mentioned and covered by Liberty.

What happened to Mosleys, it’s your problem if you can’t race

[astracrazy]

Im starting to think this season is going to end up being a waste of time starting it to be honest.

Companies around the world are already banning travel. There is a point where teams will take responsibility as companies and refuse to travel so races will start not counting.

The F1 circus travelling across the world every 2 weeks is going to start looking pretty irresponsible at some point.....

[oT v1]

Im starting to think this season is going to end up being a waste of time starting it to be honest.

Companies around the world are already banning travel. There is a point where teams will take responsibility as companies and refuse to travel so races will start not counting.

The F1 circus travelling across the world every 2 weeks is going to start looking pretty irresponsible at some point.....

£’$€ $$$ £€€€ £££ $¥€¥$€!

Roughly translates to: Its all about the money.

In all seriousness I’m not sure where tracks and organisations stand for refunds (maybe Liberty can extend existing contracts by a year) because the flow of money backwards is probably unthinkable. I think F1 would be the last series to be cancelled so I’ll be watching the other series with interest.

It seems most sports with wheels has a large Italian involvement (4 wheels, 2, and bicycle) and 2020 could be a lean year

EDIT: will Lewis still thank the fans if he wins in Bahrain? :}

[DChemTech]

Im starting to think this season is going to end up being a waste of time starting it to be honest.

Companies around the world are already banning travel. There is a point where teams will take responsibility as companies and refuse to travel so races will start not counting.

The F1 circus travelling across the world every 2 weeks is going to start looking pretty irresponsible at some point.....

I dont think that would be the right course of action. We have absolutely no idea what the situation in a few months will be. Perhaps things blew over, perhaps it's so widespread that one GP more or less won't make a difference.

[Pyrone89]

Most tracks can be run without spectators and we won't even notice.
Only exceptions are Silverstone (Hamilton fans), Monza (Tifosi), Brazil, Austria (Orange Army), Zandvoort (Orange Army x10) and Spa (Orange Army). There a real spectator buzz is visible. All the other tracks you barely notice the crowd are even there.

The finances could be handled by Liberty lowering the fee to compensate (unless they refuse and choose to lose more money by having no race at all thus losing the TV income).

[El Scorchio]

If the teams take full precautions then they should probably be ok to be travelling to races. Regular testing for everyone in the factories, limiting who they contact outside work and families, charter flights and private transfers to the circuit. It should be quite easy to keep them away from other people when travelling, provided there’s no infection in any of the factories. Of course journalists, stewards and other circuit staff are the real danger. The drivers will need to be absolutely wrapped in cotton wool though and kept away from everyone it’s not necessary to have contact with. I wonder if one of them might refuse to travel.

[JonoNic]

In all honesty. Why would hosts run a GP with no spectators? They will run the event at a loss. Unless the broadcasters come up with new angles for video or more in-depth telemetry and also provide advertising banners at the bottom of the TV screen during non-racing shots then I can't see a reason to continue the season.

[nzjrs]

The promoters might lose money, not sure about F1. There is probably a lot of lawyers reading insurance policies right now.

F1/Liberty shares are crashing in line with the market, but they must be quite worried that as an entertainment company their shares will fall faster if they have no entertainment product to sell in 2020

[ziggy]

Im starting to think this season is going to end up being a waste of time starting it to be honest.

Companies around the world are already banning travel. There is a point where teams will take responsibility as companies and refuse to travel so races will start not counting.

The F1 circus travelling across the world every 2 weeks is going to start looking pretty irresponsible at some point.....

Well said. This season could end before it really starts. With N. Italy on lockdown and rest of Europe not looking good either, I don't see any possibility, how this can go on. I won't even mention Asia... So prepare to see more races cancelled in the next days. Wash your hands and prepare. Stay safe.

[the EDGE]

In all honesty. Why would hosts run a GP with no spectators? They will run the event at a loss. Unless the broadcasters come up with new angles for video or more in-depth telemetry and also provide advertising banners at the bottom of the TV screen during non-racing shots then I can't see a reason to continue the season.

It depends on the country, in Europe races are funded by spectators, races like Bahrain are funded by the state with ticket sales making up a small percentage of revenue

[astracrazy]

The thing is a lot of this is outside of F1s control, which is why I find it odd they are willing to push ahead.

Its not beyond reach the f1 circus could end up getting quarantined somewhere if one infected person roles up on a Wednesday and is diagnosed on a Sunday. It wont be liberties choice what then happens, it will be the countries they are in.

As someone said, its all about money because anyone with a sense of logic would pull the plug now.

The exact thing F1 does, creating mass gatherings and travelling 1000s of people around the would bi-weekly, is exactly the thing which should be avoided right now.

Im not saying this as some sort of over reactor, but it just comes across as common sense and responsibility to me.