Start F1 season in Austria uncertain, major events forbidden for the time being
F1 News
- GPblog.com
The eyes are on Austria, where the Formula 1 season could start on July 5. The parties involved have discussed this on Thursday and given Austria's easing of the corona measures, a season start on the Red Bull Ring is a good start. But nothing is certain, as certain measures can throw a spanner in the works.
Reopening
The Austrian government has decided to relax the corona measures, so shops may reopen from Tuesday. From mid-May, museums, cultural centres and more may also open their doors to the public. This also implies that the circuit in Spielberg may be used again, but there is a catch.
Austrian vice-chancellor Werner Kogler, has indicated that it is forbidden to organize large events until the end of August, RT.com writes. By doing so, the government wants to prevent large groups of people from getting together, as this could lead to a revival of corona proliferation.
Behind closed doors
Now the plan is that the Austrian Grand Prix will be held behind closed doors, but that doesn't solve the problem of many people getting together. The Formula 1 teams will have to travel with less staff, which is achievable. But still, in combination with all the necessary people, this will result in a grouping of large groups.
That goes fast towards the 1.000 people and with that the Grand Prix would be in violation of the measures. So the question is whether the plan of Formula 1 can actually go ahead. Helmut Marko, together with Red Bull-boss Dietrich Mateschitz, is in contact with the government regarding the organisation of a race on their circuit.
The first messages that came out were positive, Marko said: "Nothing has been decided yet, but at least there are positive tendencies". At the moment they would be discussing how many men are allowed to come to the circuit and whether it falls within the set measures.