F1 chiefs preparing for July return and claim they can put on between ’15 and 18 races’ despite coronavirus lockdown

FORMULA ONE chiefs are lining up on the grid waiting for the green lights.

Incredibly, the sport’s CEO Chase Carey reckons they can put on “between 15 and 18 races” despite the Covid-19 lockdown.

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Credit: Represented by ZUMA Press, Inc.

World champ Lewis Hamilton could be back on track by July – but without such crowd support

F1 CEO Chase Carey still believes they can squeeze in almost as many races as normal this yearCredit: AP:Associated Press

But F1 must be mad to think their 200mph approach will work — with their idea for behind-closed-doors races still stuck in the pits.

F1’s bold statement came off the back of confirmation that the French GP was being scrapped.

And British GP chiefs confirmed that no spectators would be allowed in, providing they can host their race in the first place.

To get an F1 race underway, there needs to be at least 1,500 people at a track and most near the pits. For that reason it seems totally unrealistic.

The announcement was a timely shot in the arm on a day of bad news; the cynics would suggest it would stop a further slide on the sport’s share price.

After the double GP blow, a statement from Carey, who runs F1 for the sport’s owner, Liberty Media, said: “We are now increasingly confident with the progress of our plans to begin our season this summer.

“We’re targeting a start to racing in Europe through July, August and start of September, with the first race taking place in Austria on 3-5 July weekend.

All our plans are subject to change as we still have many issues to address and all of us are subject to the unknowns of the virus.

F1 CEO Chase Carey

“September, October and November, would see us race in Eurasia, Asia and the Americas, finishing the season in the Gulf in December with Bahrain before the traditional finale in Abu Dhabi, having completed between 15-18 races.”

The final paragraph of the press release had ‘slipped’ onto a second page.

It was a giant caveat that underpinned the whole of F1’s plans to press on at full-throttle — despite the global lockdown caused by the pandemic.

It read: “All of our plans are subject to change as we still have many issues to address and all of us are subject to the unknowns of the virus.

“We all want the world to return to the one we know and cherish, yet we recognise it must be done in the right and safest way.”

F1 is speaking to governments, including the UK, about getting their season underway behind closed doors.

The French Grand Prix has now been called off, while the British GP has confirmed it will be behind closed doorsCredit: EPA

But it is not like football, cricket, golf or rugby, where the amount of people required to run the event would come to a few hundred at most.

F1 has ten teams that require about 80 staff in each.

Then there is the FIA, the sport’s governing body, who not only start and officiate the GP, they also have staff in the garages to check the rules are being adhered to.

There is the medical staff in case there is an accident.

Fully-equipped medical centres, ambulances, doctors and nurses, and the air ambulance.

We have not even spoken about the need for valuable PPE equipment or the unnecessary strain on hospitals should there be an accident.

There are those who work for F1 management who lay the cabling infrastructure. And the camera operators to honour the lucrative TV deals.

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And finally, the unsung heroes of any race, the volunteer marshals who are dotted around the track to wave warning flags to the drivers or be first on scene with a fire-extinguisher.
F1 is desperate to come back after the Australian GP fiasco in March.

That race was cancelled after being forced through by the teams in the wake of one positive coronavirus test.

How would they feel about F1 bringing the deadly disease to other towns and cities across the globe?

“That thought does not even seem to be on the agenda, as teams eagerly await a return to the track.

It is understandable of course.

Like Liberty Media, the teams’ coffers are depleted and the longer cars are off the track, the more chance there is of financial hardships.

Former Pirelli boss Paul Hembery who spent over 25 years in F1, says the sport would be “reckless” to get back on the road without a vaccine for Covid-19.

He said: “How can you possibly make an announcement with so many unknowns?

“Europe is in lockdown, so any idea of having races in July would be foolhardy given the unknowns.

“If there was any statement from F1, then it should have been one cancelling the season and working on a genuine Plan B.

“It’s all about money and survival, the same as any business. F1 is not immune.”

F1 could also be staring at another huge blow with the withdrawal of car brands in the wake of the global downturn caused by the pandemic.

The ‘Concord Agreement’ between the teams, F1’s owners and   the   FIA, remains unsigned.

It is the rule book, sporting code and financial arrangement all rolled into one.

And Hembery said: “It was convenient for Liberty at first for it to drag on because the later it went, it reduced the teams’ negotiating power.

“Now there is a risk that the car manufacturers could pull out as a way of cost saving.

“Their contract with F1 would have expired so, when their bosses are looking to save £300million, they could say ‘we are out of F1.’”

Forget this season. The uncertainty with the pandemic threatens to be the chequered flag for F1 itself.

Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk