This month’s Bahrain Grand Prix will go ahead but no fans will be present for the event due to Coronavirus concerns.
The Middle East nation has been battling to contain an outbreak of the Covid-19 illness after it was carried into the country via nearby Iran.
To ensure the race can go ahead on March 22, special measures have been put in place to allow team personnel into Bahrain, particularly those with strong Italian links like Ferrari, Pirelli and AlphaTauri.
However, while race organisers are confident of ensuring the safety of F1 personnel, the same guarantee couldn’t be extended to handling a large crowd.
“In consultation with our international partners and the Kingdom’s national health Taskforce, Bahrain has made the decision to hold this year’s Bahrain Grand Prix as a participants-only event,” a statement said on Sunday.
“As an F1 host nation, balancing the welfare of supporters and racegoers is a tremendous responsibility.
“Given the continued spread of Covid-19 globally, convening a major sporting event, which is open to the public and allows thousands of international travellers and local fans to interact in close proximity would not be the right thing to do at the present time.
“But to ensure that neither the sport, nor its global supporter base is unduly impacted, the race weekend itself will still go ahead as a televised event.”
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This isn’t the first time the Bahrain GP has been impacted by external factors, with the 2011 race cancelled altogether due to local unrest amid the Arab Spring.
But specifically on the Coronavirus, officials moved to reassure those on the action been taken to contain the spread.
“Bahrain’s own early actions to prevent, identify and isolate cases of individuals with Covid-19 has been extremely successful to date,” the statement continued.
“The approach has involved rapid, proactive measures, identifying those affected by the virus, of which the overwhelming majority of cases relate to those travelling into the country by air.
“Aggressive social distancing measures have further increased the effectiveness of preventing the virus’ spread, something that would clearly be near impossible to maintain were the race to have proceeded as originally planned.
“We know how disappointed many will be by this news, especially for those planning to travel to the event, which has become a cornerstone event of the international F1 calendar, but safety has to remain our utmost priority.”
