Formula 1 teams have reopened their factories and🌠 are returning to work this week, albeit in a very different manner as they adjust to new realities amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

With just over one month to go before the heavily-delayed 2020 season gets underway at the Austrian Grand Prix on July 5, F1 team📖s are beginning to open the doors to their factories following a mandatory 63-day shutdown period. 

Wor﷽ld champions Mercedes have resumed work at their Brackley headquarters, while many staff from Red Bull and Renault also returned to their respective UK bases in Milton Keynes and Enstone on Monday after an enforced two-month break.  

Ferrari and Renault restarted work at their power unit divisions two weeks ago, with the likes of Haas an𒉰d Racing Point returning last week. AlphaTauri, McLaren a෴nd Williams have also resumed work at their respective F1 bases. 

But the ways of working have changed due to strict tests and social di♋stancing measures put in place to ensure there is no outbreak of coronavirus ☂within the factory environment. 

Teams have encouraged personnel who are able to work from home to continue doing so in ordꦍer to limit the amount of staffꦓ on site at factories. 

AlphaTauri reopened the doors to its𒉰 Faenza factory again on Monday for the first time since March 23 and has clearly outlined its measures for staff returnin🐲g to work. 

All personnel returning to work have to undergo a serology test at the factory under medical supervision away from the ma🔴in building, with a positive result determining that the person must obs෴erve a 14 days of quarantine as per the health regulations. Those who are negative can return immediately. 

Temperature chec💝ks also need to be carried🦂 out at home prior to arriving at the office, with further control measures at the factory entrance thanks to the installation of advanced thermo scanners connected to the clocking-in machines. Anyone showing signs of fever must stay away.

The return of office staff is🅺 being carried out on a gradual basis, 🍃with a rotation system put in place to have some personnel working from home and others in the office on alternate weeks. 

Shifts have been differentiated to ensure social dist൩ancing can occur safely, while a limit on how many people can be 🍷in the building at one time has also been enforced. 

Designated doorౠs♕ and stairways have been assigned to staff to minimise cross-contamination from different groups of staff. 

The use of face masks is mandatory for office-workers, with hand sanitising gel available at stations located at entrances to and within offices. Offices are being constantly sanit൩🐎ised and desks have been reorganised to comply with the social distancing policies. 

At its sister Red Bull senior team, similar me൩asures are being put in place to ensur🧸e a safe restart for its employees. 

“We are very fortunate that we are on a big site in Milton Keynes with lots of space so that we can spread pﷺeople out and follow strict social distancing guidelines,” team principal Christian H𝔍orner told the team’s website. 

“The health and wellbeing of our staff is of paramount i♓mportance to us, so we have taken all the necessary meas🌸ures so they can come back to a safe environment. 

“Our workforce are our biggest asset and we want to ensure they feel comfortable, they are safe and being looked🍃 after.”

And wh🐎en racing restarts with a congested European leg consisting of eight races in 63 days, even more precautions will need to b🐈e taken to comply with the ‘biosphere’ environment F1 plans to create. 

All of the races will tak♌e place behind closed doors without fans, and teams will be limited to an “essential” amount of personnel for each race. Guests or partners will not be permitted access to events. 

Charter flights will be used as much as possible and private transfers will ferry F1 staff between venues, hotels and airports to ensureꦰ a restricted ‘bubble’. 

On arrival, paddock personnel will be tested for coronavirus every two days and there will be a bespoke tracking app to monitor contact between staff, which will be limited as much as possible. Team staff will stay at different hotels, with ಞseparate floors for team use. 

Social distancing measures and procedures𒐪 will be put in place, with pre and post-race ceremonies being altered. 

“There are aspects of operating at a Grand Prix that really preclude social distancing,” F1 chief technical officer Pat Symonds explained speaking excܫl🅰usively to Engage. 

“Our fans need to understand that everyone won’t be two metres apart, you can’t envisage a pitstop where that happens, so weဣ have to take even more precautions.

“It’s an incredibly complex operation that’s changing day by day as regulations and our understanding changes -but we want to ensure safety above everything – th𝔉at is our critical remit.

“There are bubbles within bubbles – we are trying to keep that level of isolation without the social dis൲tancing that we all know is so effective.” 

F1 is slowly but surelꦅy getting back on track, but the effects of the coronavirus crisis mean things will not be back to ‘normal’ for a long tim🌄e to come.