The 2020 Formula 1 season will start in a week at the Austrian Grand Prix, held behind closed doors with very strict sanitary measures in the paddock: the wearing of masks and social distancing are essential, not to mention regular screening for all F1 staff and teams.
Certain teams will also limit interactions between the mechanics of one car and those of the other to the maximum, and the FIA continues to dialogue with the teams in order to best manage the precautions to be taken for these first races since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think it’s really about finding the balance between risk and practicality. This balance is difficult to find”, analyzes Cyril Abiteboul, director of Renault F1 Team. “I think the hardest part will really be implementing it.”
“We have formed a group and a subgroup, so that if there is a positive case, it remains limited to the subgroup. Because there is a risk – and this is something we are discussing, the risk that one person is positive and that the whole team is left aside the time of the screening, which can take 24 hours. If this positive case is detected on Saturday morning, we do not participate in the qualifications and therefore in the race either . “
“I see that we still need to talk a bit about how to balance risk, common sense and participation in F1, even if I fully understand the work done by the FIA and the team.”
Renault put the new procedures into practice during two days of testing at the Red Bull Ring, during which Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon have filed down bitumen with RS18 from two years ago. Both are very supportive of the health measures taken to limit the risks of contagion.
“We will have to be careful”, underlines Ocon, who has not started a Grand Prix for more than a year and a half. “We have been waiting for the recovery for so long, it would be a shame and also dangerous for all of us to take the slightest risk. We have to keep everyone safe, and I’m glad to see that we have rules in place. It would be crazy to wait so long, to prepare so much and to be tested positive when you arrive, or to risk being so and to take this risk for the team. I take a lot of precautions. Zero risk unfortunately does not exist not, but we can reduce it if we pay attention. “
“Taking these additional measures certainly seems necessary for the moment”, adds Ricciardo, who does not see any great embarrassment. “I doubt that our preparation is complicated in the journey to go to the circuit, the return to this environment and the preparations before the race. We have the driver’s space to warm up and prepare for the race. is more from a general hygiene standpoint. But when it comes to getting in the car and getting ready to start, I think I can always use whatever I had before to sure to be 100%. “
Interview by Luke Smith
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