Formula 1 is keen to reschedule this year’s Chinese Grand Prix should the current April date be cancelled.
Despite a meeting of the Strategy Group on Wednesday, no final decision was taken on the fate of the race, instead, it will be upto the local authorities in Shanghai to advise as the ongoing Coronavirus outbreak worsens.
Based on their most recent advice, it does appear all-but-certain that Grand Prix will not go ahead as planned and a final call is expected very soon.
“It looks very difficult. We’re waiting for the Chinese promoter and authorities to make the final decision, which I think they will. They have cancelled all the public events in March. So no public sporting events or activities,” F1 motorsport director Ross Brawn said.
“So it is a tragic and very difficult situation. I think it’ll become clear in the next week or two what’s going to happen.
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“There’s two logistical deadlines,” he noted.
“One is when all the sea freight goes which is this week or next week, so things like fuel and so on go on a ship, but that’s not disastrous if that shifts and has to be brought back.
“Then we get into the physically putting people over there, that’s a big challenge with people going there to prepare for the race.
“That’s a critical stage and that will happen in two or three weeks time. I think that’s the point at which really you have to say what the situation is.”
Given the importance of China to F1, however, Liberty Media are likely to try and seek a new date later in the year.
“I think, if there is a probability it doesn’t happen in April, it will be postponed,” Brawn told Motorsport.
“We will leave open the opportunity to see if the race can run later in the year. China is an enthusiastic, growing market. So we’d like to have a race in China.”
It does appear likely though any new date would create a triple-header after a date swap with another race was ruled out.
“We probably wouldn’t do that,” he said. “We will just try to find a window of when the race could happen towards the end of the year.”
Next month’s Formula E race in Sanya has already been postponed.