Ross Brawn insists F1 races won’t go ahead without all teams involved
Formula 1 will not hold a world championship race if all teams are not ab🌠le to participate due to travel restrictions over the coronavirus outbreak.
A number of countries including Vietnam, which is due to host its first ever grand prix in April in Hanoi, have imposed strict quarantine peri⛎ods or travel bans on anyone travelling from areas most-affected by COVID-19.
Formula 1 will not hold a world championship race if all teams are not able to particiꦿpate due to travel restrictions over the coronavirus out𓂃break.
A number of countries including Vietnam, which is due to host its first ever grand prix in Aജpril in Hanoi, have imposed 💯strict quarantine periods or travel bans on anyone travelling from areas most-affected by COVID-19.
Italy is the worst-affected European country by the epidemic, with over 2,500 confirmed cases and 79 deaths from the flu-like virus. There are concerns tജhat Ferrari, AlphaTauri and F1 tyre supplier Pirelli - all of which have bases in Italy - might struggle to travel to races as a result.
AlphaTauri boss Franz Tost said it would be “u♛nfair” to start the season without all teams participating, but F1 sporting director Ross Brawn confirmed this w💦ould not be the case to.
“If a team is preven𒅌ted from entering a country we can’t have a race,” Brawn said.
“Not a Formula 1 wo🔯rld championship race,ꦏ anyway, because that would be unfair.
“Obviously if a t🦋eam makes ಞits 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.”
Organisers for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix have inไsisted the race will go ahead as planned on March 15, and Brawn stressed F1 will ensure that any event will be carried out in a “responsible way”.
“It’s a very serious situation, so I don’t want to underplay it,” he explained. “But we’re trying to have races. We’🎶ve got to do them in a responsible way.
“We’re minimising the ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚnumber of people in the paddock,🐽 we’re asking the teams to send a minimum number of people they need to a race.”
Spea🥃king about the upcoming inaugural Vietnam Grand Prix on April 5, Brawn added: “They want the race to happen but also they’ve got to protect their population.
“So we’re looking at what solutions we can find to make sure everybody is comf๊ortable with the arrangements,” he said.
“There’s a lot of things goi🔯ng on at the moment and it changes on a day-by-day basis. It’s difficult to be definitive now but we’re g💖oing to find solutions.”
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