MOTORSPORT supremo Jean Todt says he will do all he can to ensure teams do not quit Formula 1 in the middle of the chaos caused by the coronavirus.
Several teams, including Williams and McLaren, have placed their staff on furlough, as they prepare for limited income due to no races for the foreseeable future.
FIA chief Todt is hoping to minimise the damage caused by coronavirus to F1Credit: EPA
Todt fears that such financial constraints may cause teams to reevaluate the importance of motorsport and decide to quit the series.
The FIA chief said: “I am hoping that everyone will stay. That’s why we must listen to everybody. Even the big ones, you must never take anything for granted.
“We must consider everything. We must be humble; we love motorsport, but it is not essential for society.
“So we must make sure that we make proper choices, proper decisions.
“It will take some time, it will come back and I would really hope that it will come back better.
“I’m sure that a lot of teams, suppliers, manufacturers, they may have to review their programmes.
“They may be constrained to stop. I don’t want to be too confident, but I hope a few team owners or team sponsors will keep the motivation.
“That’s why we must make sure we don’t discourage them, because they may say OK, after all of that, what is the purpose? Do I still like it? Do I still need it?
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“So we must encourage them to make sure they still like it and they still need it. On that, we have a responsibility.”
Plans are afoot to ensure as many as 19 races can go ahead this season.
Ross Brawn is putting together a calendar of two-day races starting in Europe in July with fans unlikely to be allowed in during the early weeks of F1’s return.
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Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
