Formula 1 now has a new form of greeting. Shaking hands was once. You touch your elbows now, because everyone knows what’s at stake. One positive Corona case and the traveling Formula 1 circus could be stopped for good. The fans must therefore do without selfies with the drivers this year. Autograph sessions in Albert Park were also canceled.
The organizers of the Australian GP have drawn up an emergency plan and distributed it to all teams and course employees. Among other things, it says: If you show the least symptoms of a possible corona disease, you have to report to a doctor and then to the hotel for isolation, even if it is probably just a harmless cold.
On Wednesday afternoon, 4 p.m. local time, it was announced in Melbourne that two team members from Haas and one each from McLaren and Williams had to undergo a test. But according to German automobile magazine ‘Auto Motor and Sport’, there are people at Ferrari and Alpha Tauri who also complain of signs of a cold. They will also have to go to a doctor. Haas has another engineer who may face isolation in the hotel room.
In most cases, it’s probably just a cold. Just like a McLaren tire fitter, who is now known, has already been pulled out of the car as a precaution during the test drives in Barcelona. The test result was negative in the end. Formula 1 balances on a thin rope. If one is infected with the virus, everyone will soon have it. Because everyone communicates with everyone somehow. A voice from the circus: “Let’s see if this Grand Prix takes place as planned. If there is more bad news, it could all tip over. Formula One management monitors the situation and is in constant contact with the government of the State of Victoria.”
The teams are also worried that employees will be infected at company headquarters in Europe. In the worst case, the factories would have to close for several weeks. That would be a blatant competitive disadvantage.
Large teams like Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull could still live best with it. “For us it would probably be like a BMW plant in Germany. The department’s employees would have to be sent home. The rest can continue to work, ”says Mercedes.
Australia wants to start the season as planned. As of March 11, there are 116 infected people and three deaths in the country. That is relatively little. The organizers were getting nervous now that a school in Melbourne had to be closed after infected people were reported there. In a hotel at Albert Park, a guest who was infected in Singapore reported sick. The hotel was closed immediately.
The organizers in Albert Park have sent a seven-page memorandum that explains how to behave in an emergency and what symptoms you can use to discover the new virus. In addition to the usual precautionary measures, it says who you have to report to in suspected cases. A coronavirus hotline has been set up. Masks should only be worn by medical personnel or those who are already infected.
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