The FIA has announced Formula 1 factories will be forced to shutdown for a period of three weeks between now and the end of April.
Typically, this action takes place during the summer break in August to ensure team personnel get a rest during what are increasingly hectic and long Grand Prix seasons.
But with no races expected before May’s Monaco GP at the very earliest due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the decision has been taken to bring forward the shutdown and also extend it for a week longer than usual.
There are several upsides to this move, the first is it potentially opens up the usual four-week break in August to add at least one of the events lost at the start of this season.
The second is it helps those teams currently more disadvantaged by the impact of the coronavirus, for example, Ferrari who have closed their factories in Italy due to the severe outbreak there, who were losing crucial development time to Mercedes and Red Bull, who were operating as usual.
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It had been reported by the BBC’s Jennie Gow that some teams could be opposed to the move because of the potential for a flat-out period of racing with 18 races in 182 days being touted by some reports.
However, the FIA confirmed the change had the full backing of the Strategy Group and F1 Commission, including Red Bull who shared this statement soon after the news broke.
“In light of the escalating COVID-19 pandemic, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing is in support of the decision taken by Formula One and the FIA to bring forward the annual shutdown from August to March / April 2020 and extend it to 21 days,” it read.
“As a team, we currently plan to shutdown on 27th March for a three week period, however due to the ever-changing nature of the pandemic, there may be some flexibility around these dates.
“Whilst we would all love to return to racing, the severity of this global pandemic is changing by the hour and the impact transcends our sport. We, therefore, agree with the measures being taken to reduce the risk of transmission and will support any further race postponements that are deemed necessary.
“The health, safety and wellbeing of our team, guests, fans and the local communities we visit are our absolute priority and we are taking every possible precaution to mitigate the spread of the virus.
“As such, we will also be taking extra precautions as a team to protect our workforce while they are in the factory by implementing special working measures, guided by the UK Government and medical professionals.
“We share the disappointment of our fans and partners that purchased tickets to attend this year’s postponed Grands Prix and our well wishes go to our McLaren and Pirelli colleagues recovering from the COVID-19 virus, as well as the McLaren team members currently quarantined in Australia.”