Formula 1 could make a decision on whether to cancel this year’s Chinese Grand Prix as early as Wednesday.
The race in Shanghai is very much in doubt as the Coronavirus outbreak continues across the country with now more than 20,000 cases and 427 deaths reported globally.
Already, Formula E has decided to postpone their upcoming ePrix in Sanya on March 21 and with the F1 race set for only a month later on April 19, the FIA, Liberty Media and team bosses will meet tomorrow to discuss the matter.
“Look, the FIA is the regulator, Liberty is the promoter,” Red Bull boss Christian Horner said on the ongoing situation at an event on Monday.
“They are responsible for the health and wellbeing of not just the drivers in F1, but all the staff and all of the travelling members of the media.
“I’m sure they’ll take the necessary due diligence before making any commitment about either delaying or postponing or cancelling the race. So we have to trust their judgement and their knowledge.
“We keep a very close eye on the situation which will be on the agenda on Wednesday’s strategy meeting where we will get the next update.”
One solution that was suggested by Austria’s Speed Week was a potential date swap between the Chinese and Russian GP’s, with the latter scheduled for September 27.
Officials in Sochi had already denied any request from their southern neighbour and now have firmly ruled out any potential change.
“The date for the 2020 Russian GP was set in October last year and isn’t changing,” a spokesman said.
China isn’t the only race potentially under threat either as organisers for the new Vietnam GP confirmed they too were tracking the Coronavirus situation.
At this point though, they remain confident of the race in Hanoi taking place on April 5.