By Alan Baldwin
LONDON (Reuters) – The coronavirus epidemic is giving Formula One teams a logistical headache as they prepare for a new season and the run of long-haul races scheduled to start in Australia on March 15.
The Chinese Grand Prix on April 19 has been cancelled, but the first three races involve traveling from Europe to Melbourne, Bahrain a week later and then to Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital.
Formula 1’s top executive, Chase Carey, said on Wednesday that “all systems are in place”, although he acknowledged that the scenario remains uncertain.
Most of the groups are founded in the UK, but Honda-powered Ferrari and AlphaTauri (formerly Toro Rosso) are in Italy, where a surge in coronavirus cases has been noted. The same goes for Pirelli, the sole tyre supplier.
“It’s a situation that is changing almost hour by hour and we’re reacting accordingly in order to make sure that we protect the people that work for us,” Williams deputy team principal Claire Williams told Reuters.
“There are a lot of questions that maybe need to be discussed and answered.”
Formula 1’s top management, FIA and teams will meet at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya on Friday on the final day of pre-season testing, with the viral situation expected to be at the top of the agenda.
Williams said it would go anywhere Formula 1 deemed safe, in line with World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.
Travel itineraries established months ago had to be changed, and groups moved from transit hubs in Singapore, Bangkok or Hong Kong to those in the Middle East.
However, the virus is now spreading there too: Bahrain reported 33 cases on Wednesday and postponed flights to and from Dubai.
“Many of our team flew through Singapore (to Melbourne). . . and the cost of a detour is significant,” Williams said.
“It is a big problem and something we’re trying to work through at the moment.”
Motorsportweek. com reported that some F2 teams, who were due to visit Bahrain this weekend, had problems with members who were unable to attend due to restrictions.
“This coronavirus is a very serious matter on the part of AlphaTauri,” AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost said at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.
“We’ve drastically reduced travel. People coming from Italy’s red light districts will have to stay at home. We don’t need them to come to the factory. Suppliers also don’t stop at our factory.
“And now we’ll see what happens with the races in Melbourne or Bahrain. “
Tost said the team had also asked visitors who were due to attend the tests from northern Italy to stay at home.
Ferrari team boss Mattia Bito said several of his engineers had travelled to Barcelona as a precaution, while Red Bull’s Christian Horner expressed fears for his team’s Honda technicians.
“Can they go back to Japan? Would they be allowed into Australia even at the moment?,” he asked Sky Sports television on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, Editing by Leslie Adler)
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