The Bahrain Grand Prix, set to take place across the weekend of 20-22 March, will go ahead as planned, but it will be behind closed doors as spectators have been banned because of the threat of Coronavirus.
Organisers of the race at the Sakhir International Circuit have put a stop on fans attending the event, meaning it will become the first race in Formula 1 history to be run without any spectator presence.
The event, which also has the opening rounds of the FIA Formula 2 and FIA Formula 3 championships, will continue to be televised, with only team personnel and essential track staff being allowed inside the facilities at the desert venue.
The threat of the Coronavirus spreading within the country was too much risk for authorities to allow the paid spectators to attend, meaning it will be quiet trackside across the race weekend.
“In consultation with our international partners and the Kingdom’s national health Taskforce, Bahrain has made the decision to hold this year’s Bahrain Grand Prix as a participants-only event,” said a statement from the venue.
“As an F1 host nation, balancing the welfare of supporters and race goers is a tremendous responsibility. Given the continued spread of Covid-19 globally, convening a major sporting event, which is open to the public and allows thousands of international travellers and local fans to interact in close proximity would not be the right thing to do at the present time. But to ensure that neither the sport, nor its global supporter base, is unduly impacted, the race weekend itself will still go ahead as a televised event.
“Bahrain’s own early actions to prevent, identify and isolate cases of individuals with Covid-19 has been extremely successful to date. The approach has involved rapid, proactive measures, identifying those affected by the virus, of which the overwhelming majority of cases relate to those travelling into the country by air. Aggressive social distancing measures have further increased the effectiveness of preventing the virus’ spread, something that would clearly be near impossible to maintain were the race to have proceeded as originally planned.
“We know how disappointed many will be by this news, especially for those planning to travel to the event, which has become a cornerstone event of the international F1 calendar, but safety has to remain our utmost priority.”
Next weekend’s Australian Grand Prix remains on track to be spectator filled, but with Coronavirus still a threat, authorities at the Albert Park circuit remain on full alert about the possible threat of the virus spreading further. Doubts also continue about the first ever Vietnam Grand Prix, set to take place across the first weekend in April.
