Bahrain GP to open F1 season — Stroll
MOTORSPORT
LONDON: The Australian Grand Prix will be postponed until towards end of the Formula One season, Aston Martin team owner Lawrence Stroll says.
Bahrain will replace it as the opening race in March.
The move, due to the Covid19 pandemic and quarantine restrictions, has been widely flagged in the media but is yet to be confirmed by Formula
One or local organisers.
‘‘Melbourne has been
— it’s not officially announced but it will be
— not cancelled but postponed. We will go there sometime in the fall and the first race will be Bahrain,’’ the Canadian billionaire said.
He was speaking before the announce ment of a new team title sponsorship with IT company Cognizant.
Formula One teams agreed the change in a virtual meeting with Formula One’s new chief executive Stefano Domenicali on Tuesday.
Sources said the same meeting also agreed for preseason testing to move from Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya to Bahrain, without setting a date.
Last season’s race calendar had to be rewritten due to the global pandemic.
Seventeen rounds were held in Europe and the Middle East and some circuits, including Bahrain, hosted two grands prix.
Stroll, also executive chairman of sportscar maker Aston Martin which is returning to F1 as a constructor for the first time in 60 years in a rebranding of the Racing Point team, expected lingering difficulties.
‘‘I do believe we’re in for a difficult two or three months,’’ Stroll said.
‘‘There is a light at the end of the tunnel with the vaccine. I think the first few races will be slightly challenging.
‘‘But Formula One management and the FIA, I really take my hat off to them to deliver 17 races as we did last year in 23 weeks, without really any major hiccups, in a very impressive manner.
‘‘I think the worst is behind us and we’ve learnt through last year how to proceed with this year.’’
Stroll and his son, Lance, who drives for Aston Martin, both tested positive for the virus last year. — Reuters