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F1 managing director Ross Brawn has said that F1 cannot hold a world championship race if a team is denied entry by the host country due to coronavirus restrictions.
There has been recent concern for the Ferrari and Alpha Tauri teams as well as F1 tyre supplier Pirelli on their ability to attend the opening races after Italy suffered major breakouts of the virus.
There have been 2,000 confirmed cases in Italy so far, with fifty deaths associated with the virus, making it one of the most affected countries from the outbreak.
MORE: Ferrari abandons Pirelli wet tyre test due to coronavirus
It is understood also that Vietnam, which hopes to hold its inaugural Grand Prix in Hanoi on April 5th, has put in place a fourteen-day quarantine for any travellers coming from Italy that look to enter the country.
“If a team is prevented from entering a country we can’t have a race. Not a Formula One world championship race, anyway, because that would be unfair,” Brawn told Reuters
“Obviously if a team makes its own choice not to go to a race, that’s their decision. But where a team is prevented from going to a race because of a decision of the country then it’s difficult to have a fair competition.”
In February, it was confirmed that the Chinese Grand Prix, due to take place after Vietnam on April 16, would be postponed until further notice due to the outbreak.
More recently, MotoGP also announced that it was set to cancel it's season opener in Qatar for the MotoGP class due to the virus, with the lower category Moto2 and Moto3 races set to go ahead.
However, the F1 season opener in Melbourne is set to go ahead on March 15, with China so far being the only race weekend openly affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
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C. Sainz jr
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Replies (4)
Login to replyf1dave
Posts: 782
I would watch a race missing Ferrari and Alpha Tauri and run without tires.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
And brakes, and rims, and clothes!
Pistonhead
Posts: 556
right call by Brawn - its the whole show or no show. Gotta be fair to all concerned.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
They can race, but the points shouldn't count to the championship. After all, banning a team for concerns regarding health is a legit concern, but I don't think it's fair to the affected teams to get harmed in the process. So for years like these, unofficial races might be wise. All or nothing tend to be boring, after all.