Formula 1 teams have had to alter travel plans due to the Covid-19 outbreak, while junior squads have encountered issues in attempting to reach Bahrain.
The outbreak of the coronavirus has led to some countries clamping down on citizens being allowed to travel, while Formula 1’s Chinese Grand Prix has already been postponed.
Italy is at the epicentre of the outbreak in Europe and is home to Ferrari, AlphaTauri and Pirelli in Formula 1, as well as Prema Racing and Trident in Formula 2.
Ferrari and AlphaTauri have already implemented measures in order to protect themselves as much as possible, and have had to re-arrange travel for the opening races.
“Coronavirus is a really serious story from AlphaTauri’s side,” said Franz Tost on Thursday.
“We instructed all the employees to behave in a special manner, we reduced the travelling dramatically, people coming from the red zones in Italy should stay at home.
“We do not want that they come to the factory, suppliers should also not visit us in the factory.
“We shall see what happens with the races in Melbourne and Bahrain.
“We would have had a lot of guests from Lombardy and the [nearby] area and we said please stay where you are as we cannot invite you here to Barcelona just to prevent anyone here from getting the sickness.
“From the logistics side we had to change the flights as we are not allowed anymore to go via Singapore and Hong Kong and there’s a lot of work in front of us.”
Williams’ Deputy Team Principal Claire Williams commented that “it is a serious issue that all businesses are dealing with at the moment and it is a global sport that travels far and wide so it is something we are monitoring on a day by day basis.
“It has got to that point where we are looking at all the advice that is coming out from all relevant authorities and that advice is changing day by day so it is a work in progress at the moment.
“But there are issues we facing around travelling to Melbourne and what happens with travelling to Vietnam and Bahrain. I think it is a challenge for everybody.”
Formula 2 and Formula 3 teams are testing in Bahrain from Sunday through Tuesday but the majority of people have travelled today (Thursday) in anticipation of two days of media-related activities.
Motorsport Week understands that some team members have been unable to make it to Bahrain on account of travel restrictions, while one driver was stuck at Manama airport upon arrival for almost seven hours as authorities undertook checks.
Formula 1 chiefs are set to meet on Friday to discuss the matter and how the travel restrictions could impact on the movement of personnel across the coming weeks.
