Formula 1 managing director, Ross Brawn, talks about all the security measures to keep the Paddock safe during the 2020 season, which should start in July in Austria.
Formula 1 is ready to, finally, start the 2020 season, after the delay caused by the COVID-19 emergency which stopped the Australian Grand Prix.
After nearly two months, the FIA is working to bring the Paddock back to life again, with the season set to start in Austria on July 5th, at the Red Bull Ring circuit in Spielberg, behind closed doors, to guarantee everyone’s safety.
The provisional calendar is still in works, but the FIA is working to test every paddock member in order to keep the Formula 1 circus free from the virus.
“The FIA is doing a great job of putting together the structure we need. Everybody will be tested and will have a clearance before they can go into the paddock,” said Ross Brawn, speaking on Sky Sports F1.
“Then every two days they will be tested whilst in the paddock. That will be with an authorized authority and system. Certainly for all the European races, we’ll be using the same facility to conduct that testing. We can ensure that everybody has been tested who is in that environment is tested regularly.”
The goal is to create a “bubble of isolation“, as Brawn said, with the teams group not mixing between them.
“We’ll have restrictions on how people move around within the paddock,” he said. “We cannot socially distance within a team so we have to create an environment within itself, effectively a small bubble of isolation. The teams will stay within their own groups, they won’t mingle with other teams and they’ll set their own hotels. There are no motorhomes going to be there.”
Every team, everyone involved in the Formula 1 staff will have to travel the world, go through planes, hotels and other means of transport. Also, there are people involved in the F1 Paddock, who have to switch from garage to garage, so it will be very difficult to keep everyone distanced.
“We’re just working with those people who sometimes have to go to all the garages, how that will work, and what we can do there. So there’s a tremendous amount of work going on between ourselves and the FIA.”
“I’m very encouraged by what I’m seeing and what I’m hearing, we’ll be able to provide a safe environment that we can still race properly,” he concluded.
