F1 Postpones Bahrain and Vietnam Grands Prix

The ‘flyaway’ races to start the 2020 F1 world championship have been officially postponed, which will see the season not start until at least the end of May in Europe. The Chinese Grand Prix was the first F1 race to be postponed well before the start of the season when the outbreak of COVID-19 was largely contained within China. 

Following a dogged effort to hold the traditional season opener in Melbourne, F1 issued a statement.

In view of the continued global spread of COVID-19 and after the ongoing discussions with the FIA, the Bahrain International Circuit, the Bahrain Motor Federation and the Hanoi People’s Committee, the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the Automobile Association of Vietnam and the promoter, Vietnam Grand Prix Corporation a decision has been taken by all parties to postpone both races due to take place on the 20^th-22^nd March and 3^rd-5^th April, respectively.

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 travelling staff, championship participants and fans, which remains our primary concern.

It is a bitter pill to swallow for not just F1 fans, but motorsport fans in general, due to the postponement or cancellation of events across different disciplines. Not to mention other sports as public health officials continue to advise people against going to large gathering in order to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19.

So far, there is no known cure and as per the World Health Organization, COVID-19 is beyond containment and has been classified as a pandemic.

The postponement of the Bahrain GP should be a downer for Indian motorsport fans in particular as that was scheduled to be the opening round of the FIA Formula 2 Championship, where 22-year-old Jehan Daruvala was set to make his debut in the ‘Road to F1’ series. That too as a member of the Red Bull Junior team, which has seen drivers such as Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen graduate to racing in F1.

The Bahrain Grand Prix was initially going to be held behind closed doors, but with the spread of the virus, that is no longer a course of action that F1 is willing to take. 

It has been speculated that the onset of summer may slow the spread of COVID-19, at which point F1 may use the traditional one month summer break to hold the postponed races in order to try and hold maybe 15 to 18 rounds.

However, at this point it is safer to assume that nothing is for certain until the global medical community finds a way to combat the virus that has infected 139,016 people so far and claimed 5,116 lives. Most of the new cases are now occurring outside of China, which is where the virus originated. India has also seen a rise in the number of cases with the number standing at 81 as of now and one death recorded so far.