2020 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, March 12-15

[Vasconia]

Honestly, if they cancel this race, they might cancel the whole season. That virus will spread anyways. If not here, then in the next race.

Don´t overreact please, some races should be postponed or cancelled, but if things go fine the season should begin in May(The Netherlands). Stronger actions should be taken now for the following 2-3 weeks.

[Phil]

To be fair I am in the camp that does not understand the Mclaren thing. They have all of the team and kit ready to go yet pull out because ONE bloke gets sick.

The race should not have gone ahead. Teams should have never even travelled.

But as they are all there they may as well just do the bloody thing now. Everybody who could be infected pretty much will be anyway by now.

Maybe you should follow the COVID-19 thread. People who are positive are required in some countries to quarantine as well as people around them who possibly have it too. So even if only one person is positive (after displaying symptoms), it is very likely that more are already infected but simply have not become symptomatic yet.

It also becomes an ethical question if it is right to continue something inlight of the stakes and danger to people who might be at risk themselves or others around them.

[djones]

To be fair I am in the camp that does not understand the Mclaren thing. They have all of the team and kit ready to go yet pull out because ONE bloke gets sick.

The race should not have gone ahead. Teams should have never even travelled.

But as they are all there they may as well just do the bloody thing now. Everybody who could be infected pretty much will be anyway by now.

What about all the people who worked closely with that 1 person? What about all the people that have also came in to contact with anyone from the McLaren team? Use your head.

And your point is?

If all these people around him are infected, what difference does it make if they race or sit in a hotel waiting for their flights home?

[bosyber]

I just saw a tweet from Bryan Young (journalist, has been reporting on F1 for a years) that apart form the 1 positively tested guy, 12 other McLaren team members are in self-quarantine in hotel - McLaren will not be able to compete. He earlier said that apart from that one guy, 8 others tested (incl. the 4 HAAS people) were negative.

But, risk is real that others might develop symptoms; if they then turn out to have spread the virus to others, that's certainly a big difference, wouldn't you think? You seem too focussed on your enjoyment, while the city of Melbourne, teams,FOM and FIA also have to think of health of all involved (and finances, clearly).

I believe F1 needs to decide very soon, give clarity. Personally I don't know whether a non-championship race is still a viable, safe and responsible thing to do at this point.

[JonoNic]

To be fair I am in the camp that does not understand the Mclaren thing. They have all of the team and kit ready to go yet pull out because ONE bloke gets sick.

The race should not have gone ahead. Teams should have never even travelled.

But as they are all there they may as well just do the bloody thing now. Everybody who could be infected pretty much will be anyway by now.

What about all the people who worked closely with that 1 person? What about all the people that have also came in to contact with anyone from the McLaren team? Use your head.

And your point is?

If all these people around him are infected, what difference does it make if they race or sit in a hotel waiting for their flights home?

Not all team members are as fit as the drivers so there's a risk. Mclaren made a decision and we have to accept it.

[gandharva]

Honestly, if they cancel this race, they might cancel the whole season. That virus will spread anyways. If not here, then in the next race.

Don´t overreact please, some races should be postponed or cancelled, but if things go fine the season should begin in May(The Netherlands). Stronger actions should be taken now for the following 2-3 weeks.

Overreact? He is completely right. The peak of COVID-19 in central europe is expected for june-august according to Christian Drosten (He is the guy that developed the SARS-CoV-2 test). Google him if you think he is not the right guy to make such predictions. Starting the season in may will not change anything.

The real mistake already happened. Canceling now won't change much if at all. People have already met, worked together and so on.

[CRazyLemon]

Honestly, if they cancel this race, they might cancel the whole season. That virus will spread anyways. If not here, then in the next race.

I

Don´t overreact please, some races should be postponed or cancelled, but if things go fine the season should begin in May(The Netherlands). Stronger actions should be taken now for the following 2-3 weeks.

Overreact? He is completely right. The peak of COVID-19 in central europe is expected for june-august according to Christian Drosten (He is the guy that developed the SARS-CoV-2 test). Google him if you think he is not the right guy to make such predictions. Starting the season in may will not change anything.

The real mistake already happened. Canceling now won't change much if at all. People have already met, worked together and so on.

would have thought with the heat coming, Europe infection would be on the decline in August.

[gandharva]

would have thought with the heat coming, Europe infection would be on the decline in August.

This is outdated information.

The spring and summer, with warmer temperatures, are not expected to slow down the spread of coronavirus very much, according to experts. It is probably to be expected "that we are heading directly into an epidemic wave", said the director of the Institute of Virology at the Charité, Christian Drosten, on Monday in Berlin. The seasonal effect on these viruses is not likely to be as great as on some other cold viruses.

Maybe he is wrong... But I'm not going to bet on that.

[godlameroso]

Honestly, if they cancel this race, they might cancel the whole season. That virus will spread anyways. If not here, then in the next race.

Don´t overreact please, some races should be postponed or cancelled, but if things go fine the season should begin in May(The Netherlands). Stronger actions should be taken now for the following 2-3 weeks.

Overreact? He is completely right. The peak of COVID-19 in central europe is expected for june-august according to Christian Drosten (He is the guy that developed the SARS-CoV-2 test). Google him if you think he is not the right guy to make such predictions. Starting the season in may will not change anything.

The real mistake already happened. Canceling now won't change much if at all. People have already met, worked together and so on.

No offense but the test is kind of useless, it takes days for results to come back. I know from personal direct experience.

[Jip]

[bluechris]

Yeap .. thats it.

[gandharva]

No offense but the test is kind of useless, it takes days for results to come back. I know from personal direct experience.

Sorry, but this is plain wrong. The test itself takes only several hours. The fact that yours took days is simply due to currently congested laboratories.

[Big Tea]

The last thing anyone wants is to be sitting on a long haul plane with a possible source of Covid19. Unless they have been positively discounted, they should not travel home or on to the next GP

[santos]

Don´t overreact please, some races should be postponed or cancelled, but if things go fine the season should begin in May(The Netherlands). Stronger actions should be taken now for the following 2-3 weeks.

Overreact? He is completely right. The peak of COVID-19 in central europe is expected for june-august according to Christian Drosten (He is the guy that developed the SARS-CoV-2 test). Google him if you think he is not the right guy to make such predictions. Starting the season in may will not change anything.

The real mistake already happened. Canceling now won't change much if at all. People have already met, worked together and so on.

No offense but the test is kind of useless, it takes days for results to come back. I know from personal direct experience.

Depends on who you are. The President of Portugal had to make the test and he had the result on the same day.

[DChemTech]

Overreact? He is completely right. The peak of COVID-19 in central europe is expected for june-august according to Christian Drosten (He is the guy that developed the SARS-CoV-2 test). Google him if you think he is not the right guy to make such predictions. Starting the season in may will not change anything.

The real mistake already happened. Canceling now won't change much if at all. People have already met, worked together and so on.

No offense but the test is kind of useless, it takes days for results to come back. I know from personal direct experience.

Depends on who you are. The President of Portugal had to make the test and he had the result on the same day.

as far as I know, the results in the Netherlands are reported within a day too. Maybe in the US you have to wait until they receive the testing fee