Formula 1 rule changes approved amid coronavirus disruption

Rule changes aimed at adding flexibility to the heavily disrupted Formula One season during the coronavirus outbreak were approved on Tuesday.

The first eight of 22 scheduled races this year have been called off, with the season-opening Australian Grand Prix and the showpiece Monaco GP canceled altogether.

There is currently no start date for the season, with the next races scheduled to be Canada on June 14, France on June 28 and Austria on July 5. Postponed races could be rescheduled later this year, if the championship gets underway.

One main change means that governing body FIA and series owner F1 can modify the race calendar without a consultation process and vote, in order to save time with quick calls.

FIA president Jean Todt has authority "to take any decisions in connection with'' F1 and other international competitions in matters of urgency. The FIA can also change rules with 60% approval from the teams rather than unanimity.

Regarding technical rules, the 10 F1 teams are banned from doing any aerodynamic development this year with regards to the 2022 season.

A previously announced delaying of the 2021 rule changes until 2022, for cost-saving purposes, was officially approved.

The one exception to this rule delay is that the banning of the dual axis steering system, which Mercedes unveiled in preseason testing, starts from 2021.

The DAS helps the Mercedes car's cornering and reduces its tire wear. On-board footage showed world champion Lewis Hamilton pulling the steering wheel back and forth on the front straight, apparently changing the angle of the front wheels. Other teams were caught cold by the innovation.

Also, the permitted amount of engine-part changes are modified to take into account the lesser number of races. There is now also a mandatory threeweek factory shutdown period for engine manufacturers during April, in addition to the one already being observed by teams.

FIA said its World Motor Sport Council approved the changes by e-vote to help ''organize a race calendar that best safeguards the commercial value of the championship and contains costs as much as possible.''

All changes were met with unanimous approval from the teams, the FIA said, and further measures will be put into place for 2021 after more discussions with them.

Red Bull official proposes camp for F1 drivers despite virus

An official at Formula One team Red Bull has proposed holding a training camp that would expose drivers to the coronavirus so they could build immunity to the disease while the season is suspended.

The idea by motorsport adviser Helmut Marko was rejected by the team.

Marko said it would be good for the team's drivers to be infected now so they could recover in time for scheduled races later in the year.

"We have four Formula One drivers, we have eight or 10 juniors and the idea was to hold a camp where we could bridge this rather dead time mentally and physically," Marko told Austrian public broadcaster ORF on Sunday.

"And then it would be ideal, because these are all young, strong men in really good health, if the infection comes then. Then they would be equipped, if it starts up again, for a really hard world championship."

Marko, who was responding to a question about whether he would recommend drivers should contract the virus, said the idea of holding a training camp "was not accepted positively" within Red Bull and was abandoned.

It wasn't immediately clear if by "four Formula One drivers" Marko meant Red Bull's two drivers and two reserves, or the two drivers from sister team Alpha Tauri.

Marko also praised Red Bull driver Max Verstappen for throwing himself into the world of online racing to stay sharp, and said the drivers were focusing on their fitness.

"Max Verstappen is having more races than in a regular season," Marko said. "If we come to a season with 15 or 18 races, it will be very hard and there won't be a chance to rebuild the conditioning."

The first eight races of the season have been canceled or postponed, leaving the Canadian Grand Prix in June as the first event still on the schedule. That could be followed by a string of scheduled and rearranged races.

The 76-year-old Marko, who raced in F1 in the 1970s, acknowledged he could be at risk for COVID-19.

"I belong to the high risk group but I'm not frightened. I respect it," he said.

Marko added he had what he thought was a "heavy cold" in February but now thinks it could have been coronavirus symptoms.