« Formula 1 only exists for God and moneyt. » It was with his strong words that Lewis Hamilton spoke about the situation which is turning sour in Australia for Formula 1. Unlike MotoGP, it wanted to go strong and maintain its season opener in Melbourne, this weekend, despite the coronavirus pandemic. But F1 is not immune. His paddock is now affected, so much so that McLaren, with staff reporting positive, has thrown in the towel. At Hass, AlphaTauri, Williams and we also say at Ferrari, we admit suspicious cases to be verified. The category risks stalling before the slightest test session, and remaining in quarantine on site!
La Formula 1 Did she have eyes bigger than her stomach, did she believe too much in her lucky star or was she a victim of the acceleration of events? The risk of launching the season in Australia while the Covid-19 was rampant, but only under the epidemic assessment, was large. We are now facing a pandemic that is closing borders and seeing financial centers collapse. The health drama should be followed by an economic and social crisis...
But let's return to Formula 1 installed in Australia. “ All people who have been exposed should be quarantined », specified the public health officer Brett Sutton to a local radio station. A source in the Melbourne paddock effectively summed it up: “ if another bad news comes, the Grand Prix would be over ”, and maybe even the entire 2020 season…
But that's not all: in the event of a proven spread of the virus inside the Formula 1 paddock, entire factories could be forced to close: " engineers could work from home ", explains a member of Alfa Romeo, " but for production is not possible ". Making predictions at the moment is very risky: “ we monitor the situation hour by hour, day by day,” declared the Renault sporting director. “ But in the worst case scenario, we expect the season to end after two races. »
Observers are beginning to point the finger at International Federation of Automobiles et Liberty Medium, accusing them of not communicating and not acting quickly enough in the face of this crisis. The pilots' union itself, the Grand Prix Drivers Association, would be worried and angry, according to rumors circulating.
« The problem is serious », recognizes the Red Bull driver, Alex Albon. And the boss of Renault, Cyril Abiteboul , echoes him: “ we have to be very careful about the message we send, our job is to be models “, he explained to Canal Plus microphones. “ There needs to be a balance between an appropriate and careful response and the principle that the show must go on. If you're not worried, that means you're living on another planet. It was inevitable that Formula 1 would be involved in the coronavirus. Obviously I want to run, but not at any cost. »
McLaren Racing withdraws from the 2020 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix. pic.twitter.com/BZvHVKQoev
- McLaren (@ McLarenF1) March 12, 2020
In Australia there is a protest against the Grand Prix. A group of local doctors proposed a boycott of the race, fearing that the gathering of 300 spectators expected over the weekend could accelerate the spread of the disease. Professor Mary Louise McLaws, from the University of New South Wales, told the Melbourne Age newspaper that fans should watch the race from home, while Australian Victoria Medical Association associate professor Julian Rait said added that she would advise her family and patients not to attend.
Yesterday, on Twitter, the hashtag #CancelTheGrandPrix (i.e. “cancel the Grand Prix”) was in third position in the ranking of trending topics, and on the Change.org platform a petition was launched to request the cancellation of the event. But the latest indication from the government of the state of Victoria, where Melbourne is located, is that the race can continue. At least for now.
So many events which show that in MotoGP, if we are not varnished, we have at least avoided this impasse whose consequences would have been even more serious than those known today.
