F1 News

Tost: "As long as all teams follow the procedures, I expect we'll race soon"

20 May 2020 at 19:58
  • GPblog.com

It's starting to look more and more like a military operation, the start of the season in Austria. All teams and team members that will be present in Austria will have to be tested multiple times, to make sure the paddock remains corona free for the entire race weekend. AlphaTauri-team boss Franz Tost explains the logistical challenges the team faces when testing the team members.

"First of all, it is already a huge challenge to find the right tests, the right doctors and the right laboratory that is authorized to take the test and analyze it," explains Tost in an interview with Formula1.com. "It really took us a while, but now we have everything ready. We are working with doctors from Germany, Austria and Italy.

Have everyone tested several times

Tost explains that a lot of changes had to be made to the factory, in order to also allow safe testing on the AlphaTauri site. "We have set up a special room outside the factory, where we do the tests. We want to make sure that no one enters the factory who has tested positive. We just have to hope that every employee tests negative, so that we can get to work as soon as possible."

The trip to Austria will also require extensive testing again. "The race team will be tested again before leaving for Austria and probably again when they arrive. If all teams just follow the procedures, I expect that there is a good chance that no one will test positive for the coronavirus in Austria", says Tost.