The first round of the 2020 F1 season in Melbourne is set to go ahead in less than two weeks’ time despite the threat of the coronavirus, which has now prompted race cancellations in four different countries.
Races in China, Japan, Thailand and Qatar have all been cancelled due to the spread of Covid-19, which is caused by the coronavirus. More than 86,000 infections have been detected in over 50 countries, causing over 3,000 deaths, mostly in China.Moto GP’s season-opening race in Qatar, which was due to take place this weekend, and its second round of the championship in Thailand, have both been struck from the calendar. Replacement dates for the events have not been announced.
A statement from the International Motorcycling Federation explained the Qatar race cancellation was due to the country enforcing new restrictions on travel from Italy, which has seen a spike in coronavirus cases. “Italy clearly plays a vital role in the championship and in the Moto GP class – both on track and off – and therefore the decision has been taken to cancel premier class competition,” it said.
Australia raised the restrictions on another country affected by coronavirus last weekend. Travellers are being advised “not to travel” to Iran, another coronavirus hotspot, and anyone arriving to Australia from the country is required to “self-isolate for 14 days”.
Were Australia to impose similar restrictions on Italy, it would present complications for any F1 personnel based in the country, such as Ferrari or AlphaTauri staff. Last week AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost said it would be “unfair” if a race went ahead without any absent teams.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
His Ferrari counterpart Mattia Binotto said they are “trying to get assurance on what will be the situation” from the FIA and Formula 1 on arrangements for the season-opening race. “We know that they may be difficulty as well for people coming or arriving from Italy,” he said. “Certainly in that situation we need to understand what may happen in case there are any problems with that.
Formula 1 cancelled its April date for the Chinese Grand Prix last month. It is trying to reschedule its visit to the Shanghai International Circuit later in the year.
Among the other series to have cancelled races due to the coronavirus are Formula E and Japan’s Super Formula championship. No races have been cancelled in Europe yet, but the DTM has relocated its mid-March pre-season test from Monza to the Hockenheimring. A combined pre-season test for International GT Open, GT Cup and Euroformula Open at the Circuit de Catalunya, scheduled for later this week, will also not go ahead.
Other major races have gone ahead. Australia’s Supercars championship, which is due to support F1 in Melbourne, held its season opener at Adelaide last month. The World Superbike Championship opened at Phillip Island in Australia last weekend, and Formula E raced in Marrakech.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Major races cancelled or postponed due to Coronavirus
| Dates | Series | Event | Location | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 6 – March 8 | Moto GP | Qatar Grand Prix | Losail International Circuit | Qatar |
| March 21 – March 21 | Formula E | Sanya EPrix | Sanya | China |
| March 20 – March 22 | Moto GP | Thailand Grand Prix | Buriram International Circuit | Thailand |
| March 21 – March 22 | Super Taikyu | Round one | Suzuka | Japan |
| April 4 – April 5 | Super Formula | Round one | Suzuka | Japan |
| April 17 – April 19 | Formula 1 | Chinese Grand Prix | Shanghai International Circuit | China |
| April 17 – April 19 | Porsche Carrera Cup Asia | Shanghai round | Shanghai International Circuit | China |
| April 17 – April 19 | Chinese Formula Four | Shanghai round | Shanghai International Circuit | China |
Formula Renault Asiacup has stated its event supporting the Vietnam Grand Prix will not go ahead, though the Hanoi event promoters had not confirmed the races would be part of its roster of support events. The Porsche Carrera Cup Asia or Thailand Super Series races supporting the grand prix are still scheduled to take place.
Quotes: Dieter Rencken
Go ad-free for just £1 per month
>> Find out more and sign up
2020 F1 season
- Pictures: Wrecked chassis from Grosjean’s Bahrain fireball crash to go on display
- Bottas vs Rosberg: Hamilton’s Mercedes team mates compared after 78 races each
- F1 revenues fell by $877 million in Covid-struck 2020 season
- Hamilton and Mercedes finally announce new deal for 2021 season
- F1 audience figures “strong” in 2020 despite dip in television viewers
Only Facts!
2nd March 2020, 12:49
All the numbers I’ve seen so far show two key factors:
The death chances are no higher than regular flu.
It is all around the globe already.
So you won’t be able to stop it. And it seems is not necessary. But you can try to delay it to learn more about it.
Is that what WHO and the governments are trying to do?
GS (@gsagostinho)
2nd March 2020, 13:04
@OnlyFacts!
This is absolutely untrue and spreading this type of misinformation only adds to the problem. Here is a quote from a recent article on The Guardian: ‘If borne out by further testing, this could mean that current estimates of a roughly 1% fatality rate are accurate. This would make Covid-19 about 10 times more deadly than seasonal flu, which is estimated to kill between 290,000 and 650,000 people a year globally.’ Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/02/worse-than-the-flu-busting-the-coronavirus-myths-face-masks-vaccine-covid-19
Chaitanya
2nd March 2020, 13:11
Also the fact that majority of people are acting as carriers(weak symptoms even if infected) with elderly, kids and people with weak immune system being at risk of more serious infections as those carriers keep spreading the infection.
BaKano (@bakano)
2nd March 2020, 13:30
Kids are actually not a risk at all, at least for the moment being. They are the group (0-9 years old) least affected by it.
References (based on the current and limited data regarding children):
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-age-sex-demographics/
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/specific-groups/children-faq.html
Chaitanya
2nd March 2020, 13:56
Thats good to hear, generally kids along with elderly and sick that are a high risk group.
BaKano (@bakano)
2nd March 2020, 14:04
Yes, for many diseases is true because their imune systems have not fully developed yet. But this is a bit like getting the measles or chickenpox; when it happens in your childhood you usually survive and handle it quite well (some kids don’t though, I know) but when you get in adulthood tends to be much more complicated and serious (the symptoms). And actually getting COVID-19 as a kid (< 10 yo) is a "good" thing as they will develop resistance for future occurrences (some scientists/doctors have been saying covid-19 can become a common seasonal thing from now on, just like the flu season). Newer human-coronaviruses that will appear is a different story though…
Charles
2nd March 2020, 14:20
Actually it could be similar to the flu. The death rate at the moment is based on tested cases only. There could be many more thousands who don’t show any symptoms or just think its a cold so will never be tested.
Patrick (@paeschli)
2nd March 2020, 15:05
@gsagostinho The fatality rate is reduced by the week. There were talks of a 5% fatality rate in January, now it’s already 1%.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
3rd March 2020, 11:46
@paeschli And if it reduces to a similar risk to flu, then the part where a lot of nations already have cases (the only continents I’m not sure have it are Antartica and South America) measn that the pandemic restrictions will likely be eased. Especially since many of the preventative measures are exactly the same as flu (which is already calculated into insurers’ risk percentages).
Adrian
2nd March 2020, 21:43
According to the New England journal of medicine the fatality rate is likely to be no worse than a bad flu season and the reported 2% rate is likely too high and inconsistent with lab findings and what doctors know about the rate of asymptomatic cases.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
3rd March 2020, 7:15
Looking at the most recent data I could find, there was only country with Corona virus fatalities where the claimed deaths / cases was 1% or less, and that was South Korea (0.6%). The Diamond Princess is around 1% (7 dead vs 706 sick people). Aside from those two situations, no other country (I’m including Diamond Princess in this) has less than 1% of dead / sick. The average of those countries that have reported at least one death is 5% of those infected die.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
3rd March 2020, 7:18
As an aside, the only country that holds an F1 GP this year that hasn’t reported anyone sick with Covid-19 is Hungary. Every other country has reported having at least one sick person.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
3rd March 2020, 8:09
By my calculations, the 5 “F1 GP” countries with the most infections (excluding China) are:
Italy, 33.6 (infections per million people); Bahrain, 29.9; Monaco, 25.7; Singapore, 18.6; and Japan & Diamond Princess, 16.2. Currently Australia has 1.3 infections per million people.
matt90
2nd March 2020, 16:30
The estimates are that this is 10 to 20 time dealer than the flu, which I understand to also be a lot less serious due to vaccines preventing many vulnerable people from catching it.
Your comment is completely false.
matt90
2nd March 2020, 16:38
*10 to 20 time deadlier
Bryan A Hopkins
2nd March 2020, 21:22
Flu fatality rate is .01%
Coronavirus fatality rate is 2.0%
Major difference!!
Charles
2nd March 2020, 22:30
Of tested cases only.
Reality is that many more don’t show signs and haven’t even been tested.
@HoHum (@hohum)
3rd March 2020, 21:40
I had Flu last year, felt like siht, sore throat, very weak, aching joints, stuffed up nasal passages, etc. but I never felt sick enough to call an ambulance or fit enough to visit my GP.
I had previous experience, many people have similar experiences but do not make it into the statistics. Would I stay home and keep warm and rested this year ? No I would not, I would be calling the health services for testing immediately. Take this virus seriously, remember, It killed a young Dr. who was aware of exactly how serious it was.
SteveR
2nd March 2020, 23:49
I think 0.1% for flu is more correct…….
Steven Robertson (@emu55)
2nd March 2020, 13:23
I think we’ll be lucky to get enough races run this year for it to qualify as a fair championship. I think F1 promoters are waiting to see what the bigger global events do, if the Olympics or Euro 2020 football are postponed, expect a surge in other sports events doing the same.
Taffy (Carlton) Smith
2nd March 2020, 13:51
FIFA, IOC or Japan can afford to cancel their events. I’d be surprised Liberty or half the field could suspend their efforts and survive (prescient insurance policies aside).
I’d rather see races at closed tracks or even repeat visits to the same track than a nullified season.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
3rd March 2020, 11:51
@emu55 The minimum number of rounds to count for the World Championship is 8. Given there are 21 races, and this is unlikely to still be causing restrictions at the back end of the season, I think we will definitely get a championship. More likely, there will be a small(ish) number of cancellations (1-7, bearing in mind we’ve already effectively had 1) and the rest of the season will continue as planned (meaning between 15-21 races actually run). Given that 16-race calendars were common until 15 years ago, I think such a season could be declared valid, without needing to find ways to increase the race count.
JohnH (@johnrkh)
2nd March 2020, 13:24
Have the teams that could be effected by quarantines or travel bans thought about moving personnel out to ‘safer’counties? I know how inconvenient that would be for their families but it may solve the problem of some staff not being allowed to enter other countries.
@Only Facts! It seems you are dealing alternate facts.
Wonderbadger (@wonderbadger)
2nd March 2020, 17:27
I suspect that would be about as effective as a dog chasing its tail, move to a “safe” country and it only takes one undected carrier to spread it around to a larger number of people before that country isn’t safe and you move again. Also, last time I checked I haven’t seen a large number of facilities lying dormant which would have everything an F1 team would need to develop their cars through the season so as F1 depends so much on in-season development it would put any nomadic teams at a massive disadvantage.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
3rd March 2020, 11:55
@johnrkh This only works if you can keep them out of the dangerous countries for 14 days. Ferrari and Pirelli* already can’t do that for Australia, unless they’ve kept its test teams away from Italy, and it’s getting hard to predict which nations will block what even a few days into the future. That information is necessary to make flight and accommodation bookings.
* – I’m more worried about Pirelli because there’s a cluster of quarantined villages/towns not that far from the city. While Ferrari will be hit by the restrictions, I’ve not seen anything to suggest that Maranello is at especial risk (beyond the somewhat elevated risk of being in North Italy in general).
BaKano (@bakano)
2nd March 2020, 13:32
My take on this issue is that travel restrictions are going to increase this current week and there will be staff impacted for sure. And that not even considering the possibility that some people in the F1 “circus” or from the closer circus will be tested positively. Either the authorities create special cases for these “special events” or we’re gonna have a seriously disrupted season (the first half)…
Gubstar
2nd March 2020, 15:00
So the first two motogp’s of the season have been cancelled due to travel restrictions with people from Italy……. (including the Ducati team and some of the riders)
Surely it will be the same for the AUS GP with the 3 Italian teams?????
Warheart (@warheart)
2nd March 2020, 16:05
@gubstar
Qatar has been cancelled due to travel restrictions by Qatar, which are not in place at the moment in Australia.
Thailand’s race has been postponed by the Thai government, but they have made no mention of travel restrictions, just that they won’t be able to hold the GP on the original date.
Wonderbadger (@wonderbadger)
2nd March 2020, 17:31
I suspect that some countries who have a wider problem with the virus would rather place restrictions on large, high profile events like these than risk the health not only of the attending fans but also the teams/sports-people involved, at this stage its a sensible safeguard while they tackle the infections and try to get it under control.
Phil
2nd March 2020, 17:48
maybe all the drivers can jump into their teams sims and compete against each other that way. No health issues and probably cheaper. I joke of course. It wouldn’t be fair on Ferrari or Alpha to hold a championship round without them but also unfair on the fans to cancel the event for those two teams. Certainly wouldn’t want a 2005 Indy like experience though.
Scott (@scott6428)
3rd March 2020, 20:21
that’s not a bad idea actually Phil. There are esports out there, perhaps liberty would rather host something in iracing for example with all the real F1 drivers at a circuit they might miss and broadcast that rather than loose TV revenue. Maybe fill the field with a handful of iracers to generate interest…. and hope they don’t win :)
Neil (@neilosjames)
2nd March 2020, 19:06
In a month or so it’ll probably be everywhere, and there’ll be little point in having travel restrictions.
Wouldn’t surprised me if we got one or two ‘behind closed doors’ races, though.
John Doe
3rd March 2020, 7:25
I could imagine a few races closed to the public where just the teams are at the track. Empty grandstands would be weird tho.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
3rd March 2020, 11:58
@neilosjames If that happens, the promoter will want their money back from Liberty, because that’s the only way they get the money they need to help pay for the race to happen. Cancellation and non-payment of fees would be the more likely, I think.
DAllein (@)
2nd March 2020, 20:14
Cancel anything is an enormous stupidity.
Let the hysteria end. Now.
JC
2nd March 2020, 20:35
Don’t be so shortsighted. People’s lives are more important than sporting events. Better informed people than you and I are making important and difficult decisions to limit the global spread of a virus.
glynh (@glynh)
2nd March 2020, 20:57
Even if we accept it will eventually spread everywhere, gatherings of people will cause large outbreaks and put a pointless strain on health services so, annoying as it is, I don’t think F1 will have a choice.
Chaitanya
3rd March 2020, 7:33
Just saw the news that even Vietnam has imposed quarantine for all passengers from Italy.
mrfill (@mrfill)
3rd March 2020, 15:45
There’s another problem within the sport which is TV crews.
The races may go ahead but will the TV crews be there? German RTL have said they will not sent any of its staff to Vietnam and other broadcasters may follow. If the UK gets added to the list of restricted travel countries it would be a bit awkward and its not beyond the bounds of possibility.
The F1 economy is going to take a bit of a bashing this year – they may not even need the budget cap in 21…