F1 chiefs to hold crisis talk amid fears coronavirus outbreak could wipe out this season’s first FOUR races
WORRIED F 1 teams will hold crisis talks today over fears the coronavirus could KO the season’s first FOUR Grands Prix.
April’s Chinese GP has already been postponed but some teams have fears over the opening races in Australia, Bahrain and Vietnam.
Lewis Hamilton is due to open his title defence in Melbourne on March 15 — and Formula One chief Chase Carey insists the races will go ahead.
But Williams’ deputy team principal, Claire Williams, said: “It’s a situation changing by the hour and we’re reacting accordingly in order to make sure we protect people who work for us.
“There are a lot of questions that need to be answered.”
Aiports in Singapore, Hong Kong and the Middle East have all cancelled flights due to the worldwide spread of the deadly bug, which has now killed almost 3,000 people.
This is really serious... We have reduced travelling dramatically. People coming from the red zones in Italy should stay at home.
Franz Tost
Williams added: “A lot of our team were routed through Singapore to Melbourne and the cost of that is significant. It’s a big problem.”
AlphaTauri, who along with Ferrari and tyre suppliers Pirelli are based in Italy where the virus has seen a large outbreak, are also worried.
Team boss, Franz Tost, declared: “This is really serious. We will see what’s going on regarding races in Melbourne and Bahrain.
“We have reduced travelling dramatically. People coming from the red zones in Italy should stay at home, we don’t want them at the factory.”
The Vietnam GP in Hanoi is just 100 miles from the Chinese border — the country where the COVID-19 virus originated.
But Bahrain circuit chiefs insist they are working with government health officials and are ready to introduce quarantine facilities to make sure their March 22 race goes ahead.
Meanwhile, Italian golfers Edoardo Molinari and Lorenzo Gagli have been reinstated at the Oman Open after originally being forced to withdraw.
Gagli, 34, had shown flu-like symptoms but tested negative for the deadly virus.
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Europe’s 2010 Ryder Cup hero Molinari tweeted: “Still shocked by what happened in the last 36 hours.
“I am absolutely fine and so is my good friend Lorenzo.
“It was a scary and annoying situation because it is not something that was in our hands and there were no certainties at all.