No race cancellation even if driver has COVID-19: Chase Carey

Formula One would not cancel a race even if a driver tests positive for COVID-19, chief executive Chase Carey said on Tuesday.

Report informs citing the Reuters, was speaking after the sport published an eight-race initial calendar with the season starting in Austria on July 5.

The original March 15 opener in Australia was canceled after a McLaren team member returned a positive test for the new coronavirus before the weekend had started.

“An individual having been found with a positive infection will not lead to a cancellation of a race,” Carey said in an interview on the official http://www.formula1.com website.

“We encourage teams to have procedures in place, so if an individual has to be put in quarantine, we can quarantine them at a hotel and replace that individual,” he added.

“A team not being able to race wouldn’t cancel the race... we will have a procedure in place that finding infection will not lead to a cancellation. If a driver has an infection, (the teams have) reserve drivers available.”

Formula One plans to race without spectators initially, and teams will fly in on charters and be isolated from the local population.

Carey pointed to “a rigorous set of guidelines” of some 80-90 pages detailing the processes for travel, hotels, meals, track behavior, and testing.

Teams will operate in ‘bubbles’ with social distancing in non-critical areas such as the paddock.

Formula One expects some 1,200 essential personnel with the ten teams limited to a maximum of 80 people each compared to the more usual 130.

Carey said he hoped to finalize the rest of the calendar by the end of June and recognized there were some races currently included, which might not happen, but the sport had other options.

The F1 boss defended the decision to go racing, saying governments in the countries concerned were supportive.

“Much of the world is moving forward, and I think it is important to realize that the shutdown does have both health, societal and economic consequences which are long term,” he said.