Two F1 races plunged into doubt as team staff stranded and flights chartered | F1 | Sport
Next month’s Formula One races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have been plunged into doubt after the FIA suggested safety will be the main factor when deciding if they can go ahead. Though organisers of this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix say they are “really confident” that the Melbourne race will be unimpacted despite war in the Middle East causing travel chaos.
Up to 1,000 team and F1 management staff have had flights to Australia cancelled after several countries closed their airspace. But half of them have been put onto specially chartered planes to get them Down Under in time. Travis Auld, chief of the Melbourne event, said key F1 figures have been prioritised to ensure as little disruption as possible. He said: “The drivers will be here, the engineers will be here, the team principals will be here.
“They’re the ones that have been prioritised [for travel] and so you won’t see any surprise drivers under a helmet.” And the cars themselves have already arrived, having been shipped from Bahrain as soon as pre-season testing had concluded last month.
But some team staff remain stranded in Manama, Bahrain, after a wet-weather tyre test was cancelled by Pirelli. It is one of the cities which has been targeted by Iranian missiles since the counter-attack began, following Saturday’s US and Israeli strike on the country’s leadership.
Some teams may have to put trackside staff into different roles across the first few races of the season as a result. But Auld added: “Luckily, we’ve been able to get everyone that needs to be here, here.
“My understanding is that’s all now been locked in, everyone will be here ready for the race and fans won’t notice any difference.”
While the Melbourne race is set to go ahead, there is far less certainty about the Bahrain and Saudi races scheduled for April 12 and 19. And also the World Endurance Championship season opener in Qatar, scheduled for the last weekend in March.
In a statement yesterday, FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem said: “Safety and wellbeing will guide our decisions as we assess the forthcoming events scheduled there for the FIA World Endurance Championship and the FIA Formula One World Championship.”
F1 said it is “closely monitoring” developments in the Middle East with a final decision over the Bahrain and Saudi races to be taken closer to the time.
But it is understood that contingency plans are in place to preserve a 24-race season, in the event that cancellation of those two events is necessary.
Similar contingencies were in place for the Qatar and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix late last year, though those races went ahead as planned.
An F1 spokesperson said: “Our next three races are in Australia, China and Japan and not in the Middle East – those races are not for a number of weeks. As always, we closely monitor any situation like this and work closely with relevant authorities.”
