AlphaTauri has revealed some of the measures Formula 1 needs to allow July’s Austrian Grand Prix to go ahead.
Last week, the event at Spielberg’s Red Bull Ring emerged as the likely starting point for the 2020 season, after the government’s sports minister said he would not block a closed-door event.
Still, as team boss Franz Tost admitted, at a time when countries still have closed borders, introduced lockdowns and other precautions due to the coronavirus, simply getting to the Styrian mountains would be a challenge in itself.
“As far as travel is concerned, there is hope that roads can be used again by July. Otherwise, we could travel on a chartered plane, along with Ferrari staff,” he told SpeedWeek.
“As for the whole British, who should move to Austria, they too could take a charter plane and then land in Zeltweg or Graz, but due to all of today’s travel bans or border closures, we have to wait and see if that works.
“These are exactly some of the reasons why we can currently present so little concrete plans.”
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Another issue is working out how F1 can avoid a repeat of Australia where coronavirus cases emerged among teams at Albert Park, leading to the late cancellation.
“I assume that travelling personnel should have a health certificate. I have already made it clear internally at AlphaTauri that we will do such tests,” Tost added.
“However, regardless of whether we are racing or not. I want all of our employees to be tested on Corona to minimize the risk of infection in the company when we resume work in the factory.
“You have to be careful with these tests because there are now a lot of different ones. I have asked our specialists to procure tests that are recognized and produce reliable results.”
Then there’s maintaining the regulations on social distancing as, even without fans and media, 2,000 people would still be at the Red Bull Ring, at least based on the figure from Melbourne.
“In terms of the number of team members on-site, talks are taking place without committing ourselves to specific numbers,” the Austrian revealed
“We would limit ourselves to those specialists who are absolutely necessary for the use of the car.
“If we have no guests and there are no on-site rapporteurs, then we can do without employees from marketing and media departments.
“At AlphaTauri we would get along with 60 to 65 people.
“We didn’t talk about a maximum number of specialists in the paddock in the negotiations with FIA and FOM.
“What we also have to keep in mind, if we reduce the number of employees on the track and then – at the request of the FIA – conduct a high rhythm of races later in the year, I think that’s unrealistic.”
With fewer people, Tost even suggested the plush motorhomes teams bring could be left back at base though catering is still an area to be discussed.
However, all of this is simply hypothetical for now as the coronavirus situation remains active.
“The whole situation is extremely complicated because we are dependent on government decisions and because so many individual factors play a role,” he explained
“The situation is constantly changing. Of course, FIA and FOM would like to get started as soon as possible, but you have to see – these are the desired scenarios.”