Formula 1 teams are limiting the period of time they’ll stay in Hungary for this weekend’s Grand Prix in Budapest.
After a two-week stay in the Austrian hills, the Hungarian capital is certainly a little more congested and as a result, the government is limiting movement of British and non-EU personnel to between two locations, their hotel and the circuit.
Anyone caught breaking this faces a hefty fine of 15,000 Euros or even prison and that risk did lead to rumours on Sunday morning that F1 was considering cancelling the trip and staying in Spielberg for a third week.
However, that was soon denied and indeed, trucks and set-up personnel are now in Budapest preparing for this weekend while drivers and other team members are waiting as long as possible before travelling.
“What we as a team are going to do is to enter late. Nobody wants to be stuck in a hotel room from Monday to Thursday before we go to the track, and in that respect, we will maintain the bubble in Austria,” Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was quoted by MotorsportWeek.
“We are making no difference for nationalities. You should know we are trying to be at the forefront in Formula 1 to fight for equality and no discrimination, so the last thing we would do is give others privileges. This is not something we want to do.”
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Though the restrictions will make this year’s trip to Budapest much less appealing than normal, Red Bull’s Christian Horner believes it is a sacrifice F1 can accept.
“It’s tough for them, but we’ve just spent three months shut up at home,” said Horner. “It was one of the conditions we knew would be potentially applicable to returning to racing.
“Given the choice with those being the conditions, or not racing, I think we’d all sign up for those conditions. Of course, it’s not ideal, but it’s unprecedented times, and it’s only a week in our lifetime.
“The situation globally seems to be hopefully improving with more races being announced, and Hungary is a racetrack we enjoy and hopefully we can perform well at.
“We’re there to go racing, we’re happy to go racing, so it’s not a major issue. We’ll just deal with it accordingly, and all focus is on the racetrack.”
