Dutch, Spanish and Monaco F1 GPs postponed because of coronavirus
The Dutch, Spanish and Monaco grands prix have been postponed, meaning the first seven races of the Formula One season have been affected by coronavirus.
The earliest the first race could now take place would be in Azerbaijan on 7 June. In addition, regulation changes set to take place next year have been postponed until 2022.
The postponement of three more races was made after a conference call involving the FIA president, Jean Todt, the F1 chief executive, Chase Carey, the F1 sporting director, Ross Brawn, and the 10 team principals.
It was not unexpected given the increasingly strong grip of coronavirus on Europe and fears that mass gatherings and movement of F1 teams and fans across the continent would only exacerbate the situation.
A statement read: “Due to the and fluid nature of the Covid-19 situation globally, the FIA, Formula One and the three promoters have taken these decisions in order to ensure the health and safety of the travelling staff, championship participants and fans, which remains our primary concern.”
At the same time it was agreed to put off the major regulation changes set to come in to place for 2021 until the following year. The idea of delaying had already been considered by the teams and largely agreed with only Ferrari wanting further time to discuss it internally. Having done so agreement was unanimous with Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto stating now was:
“not the time for selfishness”.
Wth a large number of races unlikely to take place this year with a resultant financial cost, the teams have agreed the expense of developing new cars under the circumstances should be postponed.
The chassis developed for this season will now be used in 2021, but the budget cap set for 2021 of $175m will still be instated. A joint statement also confirmed there would be ongoing discussions regarding further methods of making significant cost savings.
The rescheduling of postponed grands prix remains the target of F1 and the FIA, however the schedule does not allow much room for additional meetings later in the season. To that end, the F1 summer shutdown period held in August between the Hungarian and Belgian grands prix has been shifted to take place for a three-week period teams must take before the end of April.
The joint statement reiterated the hope racing may be able to resume in May. “The FIA and Formula One expect to begin the 2020 championship season as soon as it is safe to do so after May and will continue to regularly monitor the Covid-19 situation.”
The Le Mans 24 Hours has also been postponed. The race, due to take place on 13-14 June, has been rescheduled for 19-20 September 2020, the same weekend as the Singapore Grand Prix.