Formula 1: The start of the season is made more complicated by the Coronavirus

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As it stands, there are 23 races on this year’s Formula 1 racing calendar, and the season begins on March 21 in Albert Park, Melbourne, before the field is tested in Barcelona in the early days of March.

However, this may not be the case: As reported in the international press, Melbourne race organizers have already agreed to replace the Australian Grand Prix at a later time as strict measures were introduced in the country, including a mandatory 14-day quarantine. For arrivals due to the coronavirus pandemic.

If the Australian Grand Prix is ​​indeed postponed, this year’s World Series Series will kick off with a week-long retreat in Bahrain on March 28, and that could have an impact on pre-season testing as well.

F1 test in Bahrain, February 2009

In accordance with the practice of previous years, after the test days, the teams withdraw the results to their headquarters, their factories, where they make the last fine-tuning of their cars before the first race – the Australian Grand Prix.

On the other hand, if the first race was in Bahrain, it would be logistically better for the teams to go to Saher rather than Barcelona and test there – and the weather there in March is usually better than in Catalonia, although there were times when this was not possible due to Sandstorm. For the test in Bahrain …

According to the Italian version of www.0123go.com, Plan B can be envisioned to postpone the Australian Grand Prix until March 2-4. Ten days later, from March 12 to 14. To be held in Bahrain.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) quoted a government spokesman in Australian Victoria as saying that nothing was official yet ‘Public health considerations are of paramount importance’, As confirmed “Negotiations are underway between the government, race organizers and Formula One leaders to administer the race calendar for this year.” In floral parlance, this can also be interpreted as considering the possibility of postponing the Australian Grand Prix – another question is whether there is room in the calendar of 23 races where a logistically reasonable outing for a Melbourne outing can be taken.

Not to mention, once a portion of the track at the Albert Park Racecourse consists of public roads and the other half passes through a public park, the track should start slowly to be ready by mid-March. Judging from previous years, they are usually seen building two months before the race, and it takes six weeks after the race to break everything apart.

FIA President Jean Todt (Photo: AFP)

Not only is this a long time, but it is also a huge financial burden on the local government, and they don’t want to walk like last year when they announced the race was canceled a few hours before the first free training because McLaren had contracted the Coronavirus.

According to a report by the Hungarian Telegraph Office, tickets have not yet been sold in Australia.

Jean Todt, president of the International Automobile Federation (FIA), said the first half of the year is due to the pandemic “It doesn’t look like we can almost do a regular season.”

The sporting leader was quoted by several online magazines on Tuesday that the 74-year-old French specialist said he expected “In the coming days, we will hear about a number of potential changes to the various racing calendars, not just Formula 1.-1 bin. Todd added that the epidemic “Unfortunately, it’s not over yet, there are restrictions now, and the virus continues to infect.”