The Formula One season has been delayed due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic. Initially, the Melbourne Grand Prix, which was scheduled to take place this week was postponed due to one of the McLaren team members testing positive to the virus.
However, news of the virus in and around Asia, especially in China has led to the races in Bahrain, Vietnam, and China to be postponed as well. The FIA has released a statement saying that they “expect” the 2020 season to start in May, but that it would be reviewed regularly.
The statement further read: "Following the announcement of the Australian Grand Prix’s cancellation this week and the ongoing and fluid nature of the COVID-19 situation globally, Formula 1, the FIA and the promoters have taken these decisions in order to ensure the health and safety of the traveling staff, championship participants and fans, which remains our primary concern."
According to Ross Brawn, the Formula One technical director, the Dutch race on May 3rd is currently being viewed as the possible season opener. In an interview with Sky Sports, the Britisher also added that given the enforced hiatus may cause F1 to remove the August summer break and organize the 4 postponed races during that time. He added, "I think by freeing up the August break, we give ourselves several weekends where we can have a race. And I think we can build a pretty decent calendar for the rest of the year.
"It will look different, but it will still preserve a good number of races, and they're exciting races. So the season's going to start later, but I think it will be just as entertaining."
In the meantime, we urge everyone to stay safe and take care of and maintain basic hygiene practices.
