F1 News
Austrian minister will allow Grand Prix only under 'very strict conditions'
- GPblog.com
The Austrian Grand Prix is currently scheduled for 5 July and would be the first major international sporting event to take place this summer. Before that, however, the organization will have to take some hurdles, including the strict requirements of the Austrian government.
Werner Kogler, the Minister of Sport in Austria, has already indicated several times that he does not want to stand in the way of a Grand Prix on the Red Bull Ring, as long as the guidelines are adhered to. Rudolf Anschober, the Minister of Health, adds to that.
Whether the Grand Prix can go ahead "will depend entirely on the safety protocol that the organizers bring with them", says Anschober on the eight o'clock news of the Austrian public broadcaster. "We will only allow these events under very strict conditions. I don't think I have to say that this will be without an audience."
Red Bull Ring must be a 'closed circuit
Formula 1 is therefore not given an exceptional position and has to comply with the same directives as the Austrian Bundesliga. Ansschober is from the Greens and says that he "is not a big fan of Formula 1, but that this has no influence on the decision".
The decision if the Grand Prix can take place depends entirely on the risk of infection. Red Bull has already been informed through Helmut Marko about the criteria on the basis of which this can take place. The meaning of this means that the whole Grand Prix and everyone who attends it must be a 'closed circuit'. This means that the people who come to the circuit do not come into contact with the locals.