No Formula One before June as Monaco also falls to coronavirus
The Formula One season will not start before June after three more races were postponed on Thursday including the showpiece Monaco Grand Prix.
Monaco was scheduled for May 24, two weeks after the May 10 Spanish Grand Prix and the May 3 return to the Netherlands after decades off the calendar.
“Due to the ongoing and fluid nature of the Covid-19 situation globally, the FIA, Formula 1 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,” a joint statement said.
The earliest season start is now the June 7 Azerbaijan race and stakeholders are looking into possible alternative dates for the postponed races.
Some are expected to be staged in August as the traditional midseason break has been brought forward to overlap with the time lost to the pandemic.
“The FIA and Formula 1 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 ongoing Covid-19 situation,” the statement said.
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Seven races have now been affected by the coronavirus. The Chinese Grand Prix in April was postponed back in February but last weekend’s season-opener in Australia was cancelled at short notice after a member of the McLaren team contracted the illness.
Bahrain, second on the calendar, was intended to be contested behind closed doors but that and the subsequent race in Vietnam were promptly postponed as well.
The Hanoi Street Circuit would have hosted the inaugural race in Vietnam while the Dutch Grand Prix was to return to Zandvoort for the first time since 1985.
On Thursday it was also reported the 10 F1 teams agreed to postpone planned rule changes for 2021 to 2022 which would enable them to defer costs of designing new cars. (dpa)
