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Formula 1: unique environment | The Journal de Montréal

Initially scheduled for mid-March in Australia, the kick-off of the Formula 1 season will finally be given next week in Austria.

The great F1 circus will finally resume its rights on the Spielberg circuit, from July 3 to 5, after the pandemic forced the postponement or cancellation of the first 10 stages in 2020.

But, COVID-19 requires, this long-awaited re-entry will take place in an unprecedented environment.

Not only will spectators not be admitted to the site, but also, to avoid any large gathering, the 10 stables will be limited to some 80 employees on site whereas in normal times, it is almost double that is recruited for the weekend.

Rarely has F1, a symbol of excess and extravagance, been so discreet. For champagne and caviar receptions, we will iron.

There will be no guests or representatives of sponsors on site. In fact, anyone whose presence is deemed non-essential will have to stay at home. The paddock area will not have the same atmosphere since none of these majestic “motorhomes” will be erected there.

In addition, there will be no pre-race festivities or podium ceremony after the event.

Handpicked media

Each year, F1 issues around 400 permanent passes to members of the media (photojournalists and cameramen) assigned to cover it.

However, the latter will not escape the knife. Barely twenty of them were invited to this first Grand Prix. They will be confined to the press center of the
circuit with no possibility of meeting the pilots during the weekend. The press conferences will be followed only by video.

F1 authorities have favored access to representatives of international agencies such as AFP and Reuters as well as those of mainstream newspapers.

The first group will be invited to the first three rounds, then they will have to make way for a second selection for the next three rounds. A final group of media will have access to the subsequent Grands Prix which will take place at Spa-Francorchamps, in Belgium (August 30) and in Monza, in Italy (September 6).

Production … outside

For the first time, an F1 Grand Prix will be produced outside the circuit.

The broadcasting team, apart from their cameramen and a few journalists, will work in a studio in Great Britain to broadcast the race.

“Instead of the approximately 230 people usually mobilized on the spot, only a hundred will travel to Austria,” said the director of broadcasting, Roberto Dalla, quoted by the official F1 site. Not only do we reduce our expenses, but it allows better control of sanitary measures. “

12,000 tests in two weeks

Nearly 12,000 COVID-19 tests will be carried out during the first two Grand Prix of the season, which will take place on July 5 and 12 in Austria.

According to the local APA news agency, screening centers will be erected at the entrance to the Spielberg circuit. The samples will then be transported twice a day to a German laboratory open 24 hours a day. The results will be known in less than a day.

A nice nod to Gilles Villeneuve

Formula 1 analyst on French TV, Jacques Villeneuve, like most of his colleagues, will experience this comeback from a distance.

“It is in a Paris studio that we will provide the description of the Austrian Grand Prix, said the 1997 world champion in a telephone interview with Journal. Only two representatives from our network [Canal +] will be dispatched on the spot, that is to say a cameraman and the reporter Laurent Dupin.

“The situation will repeat itself for the next seven races,” he continued. We’ll see after. We don’t know what happened next. “

However, in principle, the leaders of Formula 1 should disclose the second portion of the calendar at the beginning of the week, perhaps even Monday.

Daddy’s victory

The final stage of 8 in camera events will take place in Monza, Italy, on September 6th. The latest rumors suggest that another race in Italian territory could be held as early as next week, at the Mugello circuit.

“We hear the same stories as you,” said Villeneuve, “but these are just speculation. “

In this long-awaited final calendar, a stopover in Montreal is always possible. Villeneuve ardently wishes for it.

“F1 loves Montreal and vice versa,” he said. But I’m not convinced that the Canadian Grand Prix will take place this fall. I hope I am wrong. A race in October would be a nice nod to Gilles [son père] and his first F1 victory. “

For the record, Gilles Villeneuve, aboard his Ferrari, won the first of his six F1 victories on October 8, 1978, on a circuit that would eventually bear his name.

Asterisk?

Nothing prevents F1 from revealing the rest of its calendar next week without knowing whether certain stages will indeed take place due to the pandemic and the very likely risk of a second wave.

Thus, the Canadian GP outfit could be accompanied by an asterisk. Because, in all likelihood, confirming that it will be held in mid-October seems premature for the moment.

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