Sport

Three F1 team members in isolation at Australian Grand Prix

Decision to hold the race coming under more scrutiny due to coronavirus concerns

Albert Park where the 2020 Australian Grand Prix takes place. Photo: Clive Mason/Getty Images

Giles Richards in Melbourne
Wed Mar 11 2020 - 07:53

Three Formula One team members have been placed into isolation amid concerns they may have contracted the coronavirus, as the decision to go ahead with the Australian Grand Prix comes under renewed fire. One member from McLaren and two from the Haas teams were evaluated at the circuit’s isolation unit, established by F1, after showing fever symptoms at the track.

The team members have been tested for the virus and placed under self isolation at their hotels. There will be major concern if their tests return positive having already been mixing in the paddock while carrying the virus, potentially seriously escalating the threat of the coronavirus preventing the grand prix taking place.

“We have taken an extraordinarily big risk in order to hold a car race,” said John Daley, CEO of the Grattan Institute. “This risks taking us from a situation where we had virtually no community transmission to one where we are forced to shut down a lot of community activities to prevent a lot of people from dying.”

Australia has 112 cases of the coronavirus and three people have died from the disease here. The country has banned the arrival of all Italian nationals as of 6pm on Wednesday. Amid calls for the race to be cancelled the words “STOP F1” were written in the skies above Sydney as concerns over the influx of people and a mass gathering might have in spreading the virus.

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Of particular concern has been the arrival of team personnel from Italy, which extend beyond just Ferrari. The AlphaTauri team is also based in the country as are F1’s tyre supplier Pirelli, whose headquarters is in Milan. The Haas and Alfa Romeo teams also use Ferrari engines.

Daley highlighted his concern that team members may not show symptoms initially but could still be transmitting the disease. “The risk that we are running is that someone gets off a plane, quite possibly going to the grand prix,” he said. “We don’t catch the fact that they’ve got this virus, they wind up giving it to people they come into contact with at the grand prix. That becomes obvious some five or 10 days later and by then we’re in a world in which there is substantial community transmission in Australia.”

The state of Victoria reported three new cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday bringing the total to 21. Two schools in Melbourne have been closed because of the outbreak.

“We are certainly running a very big risk,” added Daley. “Actually what the government has [effectively] said is that the value of running the grand prix in Australia with a big audience is greater than the potential cost of that risk.”

The Chinese Grand Prix has already been postponed and the next race scheduled to take place in Bahrain the week after the Australian GP will be held behind closed doors. Over 80,000 spectators a day are expected to attend the meeting in Albert Park on Friday and Saturday with over 100,000 for the race on Sunday. Andrew Westacott, the Australian GP chief executive, has said that international sales of tickets have been very strong.

There was also concern about such numbers of people expressed by associate professor Julian Rait, president of AMA Victoria. “The AMA has confidence in the decision making of the chief medical officer and the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee,” he said. “However, we do have some reservations about such a large public gathering being held during the escalation phase of this epidemic.”

The Australian Grand Prix Corporation on Wednesday dropped autograph sessions and the opportunity for fans to take selfies with drivers in an attempt to lower risks of potential infection. The Melbourne Walk, a tradition at the GP where drivers pose with fans will be curtailed. “Autograph sessions will now be conducted as Q&A interview sessions,” said a statement from the organisers. “Drivers will continue to utilise the Melbourne Walk but will not be closely interacting with fans for selfies, autographs or other direct engagement.”

In logistical terms for the teams, equipment and personnel are already in Melbourne. Air freight, including the cars, left Europe as of Wednesday of last week and some personnel shortly afterwards. The majority of team members will have left well before Australia closed its borders to anyone from Italy and well before Italy’s government imposed a complete lockdown on Tuesday.

However it is understood that personnel arriving from Italy after the Australian government imposed the stricter controls have been allowed entry after being individually assessed upon arrival. Westacott believed they were being sufficiently careful. “They’ve had to ensure they comply with Italian travel requirements coming out of Italy, and they’ve got to comply with Border Force requirements coming into Australia,” he said.

The situation is being monitored closely and there are still no guarantees the race meeting would take place. If the team members are found to have the virus it will prompt a major reassessment. On Tuesday Daniel Andrews the premier of Victoria warned that allowing mass gatherings of people was still subject to circumstances.

F1’s governing body the FIA has established what it calls a “crisis cell” which will meet every two days to monitor the situation. Similarly F1 management maintains a position of assessment and advice. On Monday they issued a statement declaring they were in “constant dialogue with promoters, governmental bodies and expert health authorities to ensure the safeguarding of everyone inside and around the sport”. The position of both organisations suggests the onus on decision making regarding cancelling meetings is being put on promoters and state bodies.

On Wednesday Formula E postponed their third race of the season, the E-prix set to be held in Jakarta on June 6th. The series has already postponed meetings in Rome and Sanya in China. The Le Mans 24 Hours motorbike endurance race scheduled for April 18th-19th has also been postponed until September, suggesting that the Formula E meeting in Paris on April 18th is also in doubt. – Guardian

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