Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has warned Formula 1 “won’t work” financially if next season is also severely impacted by Covid-19.
2020 has seen a dramatically different championship to that which was expected when teams arrived in Australia back in March. As the opening round was cancelled on Friday morning and F1 placed under a near-three-month shutdown as the first 10 races were cancelled or postponed.
In that time, extensive guidelines for paddock ‘bubbles’ were created and a revised 17-race calendar based in Europe and the Middle East was put together, including five new circuits making one-off debuts or returns.
And though both Racing Point drivers have missed races due to Covid as well as personnel from other teams too, F1 has been largely successful in holding a championship.
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But with fans only present for a handful of events in late summer/ early autumn and F1 taking a battering financially, Marko believes a return to normal in 2021 is essential.
“The fact we were able to put together such a calendar for 2020 is very positive,” the Red Bull chief was quoted by Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung.
“[But] atmospherically and financially it won’t work in the long run. The empty paddock, where you only see people in masks, is also frustrating.
“Sport thrives on the many emotions, but the economy will not be able to make ends meet either if things continue like this.”
Marko’s point was highlighted by Haas boss Guenther Steiner, who admitted the American team was facing an uncertain future for a time.
“I would say Covid, just speaking for us, we were affected quite badly from it,” he said.
“First of all, the bad finish in the championship [last season] which lowered our budget, and then the reduced budget because of Covid didn’t help. At some stage at the beginning of the year, it was very difficult to see if we would be back at all.
“We are back on our feet, we are signed for the next five years, we are not getting sold so I think now we have to build up again,” Steiner reassured, amid suggestions the Mazepin family could be about to supply both sponsorship and a driver in F2’s Nikita Mazepin.
“That is part of trying to make the best decision of spending the money and thinking about spending where I think it is most needed for the future to secure a good future for the team.
“I have got a good plan in my head on how to do it. Some things take priority over others.”
As it is, right now, the Covid situation is looking more positive with vaccines producing strong early results, leading to hopes the pandemic can be brought under control during the Spring of next year.
However, while F1 currently has a record 23-race schedule in the works next year, Sebastian Vettel remains cautious.
“Well obviously we’re not going 23 times to the same place because then I would say definitely yes,” he told MotorsportWeek initially on if the calendar was becoming over-saturated.
“But it is a world championship and it is held around the world so probably not, but then again we have a large following not just on track but also on the screens.
“I think far more important is whether the teams will be able to make 23 races because it is quite a bit of an effort, it is not just the one and a half hours you see on a Sunday, it’s a lot more work behind the scenes.
“Then the other one even before that is what type of beginning of the season we will have and how long the situation around the pandemic will last,” the future Aston Martin driver added.
“I think that will dictate also next year’s calendar and probably at least the start of the season.
“We all hope by then we are back to normal, people are allowed to come to the races etc, and yeah, we can focus on the racing again.”