While commercial, sports, or cultural events are being canceled day by day, F1 seems to escape the trend. Although it has announced an indefinite postponement of the Chinese Grand Prix, the races in Australia, Vietnam, and Bahrain are, for now, still scheduled.<\/p>\n
However, early signs seem to be jamming the machine. Bahrain, which announced having several cases on its soil, has just announced the suspension of ticket sales for the Grand Prix: \u00ab In view of the global COVID-19 epidemic, the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) has announced that it is stopping ticket sales for the Grand Prix to ensure that appropriate social distancing is maintained. The BIC is in close communication with Formula One Management and the kingdom’s health authorities to assess the situation, whether to reopen sales or refund tickets based on circumstances and medical advice. \u00bb<\/p>\n
If, at present, the race is still maintained, logistical questions arise due to travel restrictions imposed by the government, which requires a 14-day quarantine period for all individuals coming from affected countries, notably Italy. To address this, the circuit has already announced that it is working with the authorities for exceptions, so that Ferrari, Pirelli, AlphaTauri, Haas, or Alfa Romeo are not significantly impacted by such a ban.<\/p>\n
We’ll see if we are heading towards the same baroque decision as that made by Qatar’s neighbors: cancel the F1 Grand Prix but keep the F2 and F3 races scheduled for the weekend, as was decided for the Moto GP races.<\/p>\n