Early F1 factory shutdown approved by FIA

The FIA World Motor Sports Council has rubber-stamped a plan to bring Formula 1’s summer break forward due to the Coronavirus.

As revealed earlier today by RaceFans, the plan to move the break and extend it from 14 days to 21 had already been approved by the F1 Strategy Group and F1 Commission.

Ferrari’s F1 factory, as well the rest of its Maranello facility, has been closed since Sunday as the Italian government has imposed stringent restrictions in response to the spread of the virus in the country. Italy has the highest number of Coronavirus cases in Europe, with 27,980 confirmed by the World Health Organization as of yesterday, and 2,503 deaths.

Fellow Italian team AlphaTauri’s factory in Ravenna remained open today, albeit with a reduced staff. Its production department has been closed due to the lack of upcoming races but its technical department is still operating, with some staff working on-site and others from home.

The team confirmed to RaceFans its staff have returned from Australia and have not presented any symptoms of Coronavirus, but will be isolated for the next 14 days as a precaution.

All other teams have confirmed their factories opened this week following their return from Australia, but have also isolated their staff who returned from Melbourne.

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