How a pandemic punctured F1 2020

So, 2020 is going to be rather different to the year we were all expecting. The rapid spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus around the world has led multiple governments to take healthcare action unprecedented in the modern age. In many places schools are closed, mass-gatherings banned and, in some countries, entire borders are shut. At the time of writing this only covers a handful of nations, but that could be very different by the time you read these words.

In times such as these, sport becomes a luxury – something that must be done away with for the good of the whole. And that’s eventually what happened in Melbourne last week, when Formula 1 – the epitome of luxury – found itself at the centre of a crisis, which has since punctured the 2020 season before it had even begun.

The paddock had travelled to the season-opening race in Australia under a cloud of unease. The coronavirus situation was, it seems, still in a relatively early stage in Europe, where all of the teams are based – apart from in Italy, where the seriousness of the situation threatened the participation of Ferrari and AlphaTauri well ahead of the 15 March race date. But things carried on just about as usual following the end of winter testing, and the circus travelled to the far side of the world for what has become its traditional curtain raiser in one of the globe’s most vibrant cities.

But that was about as normal as it ever got. As Jonathan Noble explains in his summary of the events that led up to the cancellation of the Melbourne race (see pages 20-21), build-up publicity events – of which there were few, despite being this supposedly being the first race of a new campaign – had a noticeably different atmosphere. The drivers were sealed off as much as they could be, handshakes were generally off, and most paddock personnel were wondering if they had already been exposed to the coronavirus, or if they were now mixing with others who were carrying COVID-19.

Even as the final arrangements to the paddock and circuit facilities at Albert Park were still being put into place last Wednesday, it was revealed that three team members – one from McLaren and two from Haas – were