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F1 racing returns but not as we know it. Here’s how the rest of the season will take shape

T he return of F1 brought a reminder of the Rus‐ sian proverb about the dancing bear: “The marvel is not that the bear dances well, but that the bear dances at all.”

After a false start and the 11th-hour cancellation of the Australian Grand Prix on 15

March, Formula One jumped through myriad administrat‐ ive hoops to kick off the sea‐ son in Austria on 5 July.

This was the first of eight races in Europe, all of which would be held behind closed doors. That restriction may have sidestepped the problem of dealing with thousands of spectators but continuing precautions – as the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic hopefully reduced – presented colossal logistical difficulties.

I’m told by a source within the F1 organisa‐ tion that overcoming these hurdles required a “glass half full” mindset, something not or‐ dinarily prevalent across the racing spec‐ trum. Nonetheless, persistence and diligence overcame the naysayers to produce a plan predicated on medical and scientific advice rather than the urgent – in some cases, dire – financial circumstances of the teams.

Ross Brawn, F1’s managing director, has described the track environment as a “bio‐ sphere” to minimise the risk of spreading the virus. This includes extensive testing for everyone involved, medical support with every team and an on-site test facility for rapid response. Brawn further described this as “families and sub-families within teams” to limit contact between people as much as possible. Should a positive case arise, this structure will allow immediate isolation of the person concerned and those with whom they had been in contact.

Brawn did admit that, des‐ pite wearing personal protect‐ ive equipment, mechanics working on a car would find it difficult to socially distance. Having these so-called subfamilies in each team, it is pos‐ sible to isolate that small group without stopping the entire team from functioning. The testing procedures will take up to two hours to re‐ turn a result and anyone within the test group will isolate until the results are in.

A more apparent side effect could be the driver associated with this group possibly sit‐ ting out a practice session. It is unlikely, how‐ ever, that a driver would miss a race since parc fermé rules mean that no work can be done on cars between the beginning of quali‐ fying on Saturday and the start of the race 24 hours later. The one exception is if a car has been damaged during qualifying, in which case a team could switch its mechanics in or‐ der to carry out the necessary repairs.

At the time of writing, eight races have been confirmed, starting with successive weekends in Austria, Hungary one week later, followed by back-to-back races at Sil‐ verstone, then single Grands Prix in Spain,

Belgium and Italy. Extending the calendar outside Europe and beyond these eight is proving difficult due to volatility in countries such as Brazil and Mexico, which were ori‐ ginally scheduled to hold races in November. Singapore, Azerbaijan (they are hoping to move the race in Baku from its original slot in June to September) and Japan have all been called off because of the problems fa‐ cing race organisers as a result of COVID-19. Singapore and Baku had the additional diffi‐ culty of long lead times required by the con‐ struction of temporary street circuits.

The cancellation of Japan, with its perman‐ ent track at Suzuka, was something of a sur‐ prise. The organisers cited restriction on move‐ ment and massed gatherings as too much of a threat to their event in October. Russia, how‐ ever, remains on target for 27 September.

Abu Dhabi, scheduled to host the final round in November, may be joined by Bahrain (an early casualty from last March), with consecutive races at the latter thanks to the possibility of using a variety of circuits at the Sakhir venue.

The push to pack as many races into what remains of the season has been prompted by a need for at least 15 Grands Prix to trigger pay‐ ment from television companies. Under nor‐ mal circumstances, the broadcasting rights would account for 30% of a race team’s income.

The rest comes from sponsorship and race hosting fees. The latter source has been com‐ promised by – in the case of Silverstone, for example – the absence of gate money. The owner of F1, Liberty Media has stepped in with subsidies. All of which adds to the minor miracle of seeing races run at all.