(Motorsport-Total.com) – One day before the start of training in Melbourne’s Albert Park, the first team withdrew from the Australian Grand Prix (Formula 1 2020 live in the ticker!). McLaren officially announced late Thursday night that it would not be participating in the season opener.
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Zak Brown and Andreas Seidl made a brave decision zoom
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As of Thursday afternoon (local time), five Formula One employees (an engineer and three mechanics from the Haas team and a McLaren employee) were suspected of being infected with the corona virus. While the Haas employees tested negative, the suspicion of the McLaren employee has now been confirmed.
The team drew its conclusions from this and informed Formula 1 and the FIA that they would skip the race weekend.
The decision was made by McLaren boss Zak Brown and team principal Andreas Seidl “out of responsibility towards McLaren employees and McLaren partners” as well as “towards employees of other teams, Formula 1 fans and all other Formula 1 stakeholders”.
“The team has prepared for this eventuality,” McLaren wrote in an official statement. The employee now has to quarantine in Australia and is treated on site. There will be full cooperation with the health authorities.
Before the McLaren retreat became known, drivers like Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel had already announced that the Grand Prix should be canceled. Vettel even indicated that he would “pull the handbrake” if necessary, which observers interpreted as a threat of strike.
McLaren pilot Lando Norris had expressed concern about the coronavirus pandemic early Thursday afternoon, when the positive test result was not yet known: “The only thing we have to do is be a little bit more on the safe side, when it comes to hygiene. And doing nothing stupid in the sense of hugging too many people or something. “
“Apart from that, we are here because we believe that we will have a race here and everything will go as normal. With a few extra precautions here and there.”
Photo gallery: Coronavirus: This is how the fear of COVID-19 can be seen in the F1 paddock
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The fear is in the Melbourne Formula 1 paddock: the first suspected coronavirus cases have been reported, some team members are already in quarantine. The following pictures show how Formula One deals with the COVID-19 situation on site.
Photo gallery
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Teammate Carlos Sainz was more reserved. In retrospect, his words sound almost prophetic. It was already clear to him that it would take “a little bit of luck” to get the season off going smoothly. Because: “Everyone now knows how quickly this thing develops.”
The Formula 1 managers have so far always excluded a Grand Prix with fewer than ten teams. However, official difficulties were assumed, for example if a team could not enter a country. In the event of a voluntary waiver such as that of McLaren, a cancellation has not yet been considered.
The public pressure on Formula 1 decision-makers to cancel the season opener continues to grow. The mood in the paddock in Melbourne on Thursday was already tipped towards incomprehension. A decision as to how to proceed is still pending.
(Further current information about cancellations due to coronavirus and additional information can be found in our Coronavirus ticker!)
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