THE F1 COVID THREAD: Will GP be cancelled?

[wnut]

Originally Posted by chavez

The plan just announced by the PM might would support this.

Here is an interesting opinion piece on the problems facing the Prime Minister and indeed the Australian public in their pursuit of "Covid Zero".

Scott Morrison has little control over Australia's destiny or his own

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/austr...?ocid=msedgntp

"while our pursuit of the fool's errand of COVID Zero has seen us level every liberty, destroy educations and livelihoods and shut ourselves off from the world."

"As noted here before, it took us 230 years, but we finally managed to perfect the prison colony. We have even invented a perverse new "Covese" lexicon where "freedoms" are not rights, but gifts bestowed by premiers and where the police complain of "illegal family gatherings".



How did the old Chinese curse go?

May you live in interesting times!

Interesting times indeed.

[broadrun96]

Racer reporting Japan is about to be confirmed as cancelled, not surprising really.

Interesting bit hidden further down in the article is the concern about the US GP

"Japan has been one of the most pressing question marks on the calendar since Singapore was called off, with the race preceding the United States Grand Prix in Austin in under eight weeks’ time. In recent weeks it has appeared likely there would be two races at Circuit of the Americas if Japan was called off, but RACER has also learned there is now some uncertainty about that plan given the increase in COVID-19 restrictions in Travis County."

I think that would have to be FOM deciding not to go as the state is actively against anything being cancelled. The governor, who incidentally tested positive this morning after a packed maskless indoor fundraiser, is set on legal action against any municipal governments putting in place restrictions. Travis County, home of the track as it's actually outside city limits of Austin, is a weird mix of devoutly liberal and conservative so things can be weird. The idea FOM would cancel seems outlandish BUT stranger things have happened. And they can use the hospital capacity as a justification for cancellation on safety grounds. Capacity numbers have been rumored with a wide swing from near zero to near zero for Covid, which is a big difference as they will often leave emergency beds and direct Covid patients elsewhere than trauma center ICUs.

Last I checked the Rangers were still, and were the first in MLB, running full capacity at baseball games, as an option since they rarely sell out any more. I have not seen anything about restrictions but looks like the Cowboys and Texans get to fill the stadiums this season without restriction. Interesting call will be what University of Texas gets to run, they are within Austin city limits.

[Casper]

Originally Posted by wnut

Here is an interesting opinion piece on the problems facing the Prime Minister and indeed the Australian public in their pursuit of "Covid Zero".

Scott Morrison has little control over Australia's destiny or his own

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/austr...?ocid=msedgntp

"while our pursuit of the fool's errand of COVID Zero has seen us level every liberty, destroy educations and livelihoods and shut ourselves off from the world."

"As noted here before, it took us 230 years, but we finally managed to perfect the prison colony. We have even invented a perverse new "Covese" lexicon where "freedoms" are not rights, but gifts bestowed by premiers and where the police complain of "illegal family gatherings".



How did the old Chinese curse go?

May you live in interesting times!

Interesting times indeed.

The politics of the federal election next year is certainly going to be interesting and it will affect events such as the F1. The virus has now spread into NZ which was predictable despite a similar policy to Oz. I regularly speak to customers in NZ and they were all resigned to what was going to happen.

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by S griffin

We haven't had a race cancellation since Oz last month.

I must have jinxed it, Japan is now officially cancelled:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/58244344

Not really too surprised, the MotoGP race has already been cancelled and considering how the great difficulty they had staging the Olympics, they couldn't take anymore chances

Still a shame to lose Japan two years running, why do the rising cases always have to be in countries with great circuits or venues?

[Alan52]

Originally Posted by wnut

Here is an interesting opinion piece on the problems facing the Prime Minister and indeed the Australian public in their pursuit of "Covid Zero".

Scott Morrison has little control over Australia's destiny or his own

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/austr...?ocid=msedgntp

"while our pursuit of the fool's errand of COVID Zero has seen us level every liberty, destroy educations and livelihoods and shut ourselves off from the world."

"As noted here before, it took us 230 years, but we finally managed to perfect the prison colony. We have even invented a perverse new "Covese" lexicon where "freedoms" are not rights, but gifts bestowed by premiers and where the police complain of "illegal family gatherings".



How did the old Chinese curse go?

May you live in interesting times!

Interesting times indeed.

The journalist who wrote this has been writing virulent anti lockdown opinion pieces since the Covid out break began.He doesn’t really reflect changing opinions in the Australian community.
Also for every other state except for NSW zero Covid is still a strong possibility as vaccination rates hit 80%+.Those of us here in NSW are likely to be a pariah state locked out of the rest of Australia for quite some time after the rest of the country opens up.

[chavez]

Originally Posted by Alan52

The journalist who wrote this has been writing virulent anti lockdown opinion pieces since the Covid out break began.He doesn’t really reflect changing opinions in the Australian community.
Also for every other state except for NSW zero Covid is still a strong possibility as vaccination rates hit 80%+.Those of us here in NSW are likely to be a pariah state locked out of the rest of Australia for quite some time after the rest of the country opens up.

Will 80% make any difference?

A recent email exchange with my local member of state parliament made it quite clear there is no intention to legislate for the state government to abide by the National Cabinet agreement to limit lockdowns.

If the goal continues to be COVID ZERO then lockdowns will continue and sadly the AGP will not.

And I read, but now can't find the link ,that the AGP Corporation have sacked a significant number of staff.

[Alan52]

Originally Posted by chavez

Will 80% make any difference?

A recent email exchange with my local member of state parliament made it quite clear there is no intention to legislate for the state government to abide by the National Cabinet agreement to limit lockdowns.

If the goal continues to be COVID ZERO then lockdowns will continue and sadly the AGP will not.

And I read, but now can't find the link ,that the AGP Corporation have sacked a significant number of staff.

To your question I have no idea and probably no one else has with any real confidence.Nothing will improve before that point.
As for Albert Park I was posting here 14 months ago that the earliest possible event was November 2022 and I still think that is possible.Hardly breeds confidence about the GP happening in April if they are laying off staff now.

[Casper]

Originally Posted by Alan52

To your question I have no idea and probably no one else has with any real confidence. Nothing will improve before that point.
As for Albert Park I was posting here 14 months ago that the earliest possible event was November 2022 and I still think that is possible. Hardly breeds confidence about the GP happening in April if they are laying off staff now.

An interesting conflict of problems is going to emerge after Christmas. If free travel is not allowed the Pollies will not be able to travel around the country for election purposes and I think this is a major reason they want everyone vaccinated so as to legitimately open up access to the whole country. It most probably won't make April happen but November might be a possibility. Damn the people but don't stop me being elected sounds like a reasonable idea.

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by Casper

An interesting conflict of problems is going to emerge after Christmas. If free travel is not allowed the Pollies will not be able to travel around the country for election purposes and I think this is a major reason they want everyone vaccinated so as to legitimately open up access to the whole country. It most probably won't make April happen but November might be a possibility. Damn the people but don't stop me being elected sounds like a reasonable idea.

In the same way Boris Johnson was late to red list India because he had a jolly to India planned but in the end woke up to the reality
I said back in March last year no Politico will put their neck on the line for F1 before the 22 elections I would predict no GP in 22

[chunterer]

So are Liberty going to need to go back on their policy this year of not handing out race weekends for free in order to get close to 23 rounds??

Will we end up with one or two back to backs as reported a few weeks ago either at COTA, Saudi or Abu Dhabi?

Or will we end up with a couple of European rounds filling the void? If so one would hope that logic applies and southern europe will be looked at first to lessen the risk of cold/very wet conditions which disrupts running (like nurby last year)? Obviously any venues chosen will need to work with various country's covid quarantine's entry and exit rules!

Could Portimao get a 2nd race, Estoril, and what about Aragon, Navarra or Jerez? Maybe even another southern france event?

[chillibowl]

the uncertainty about the calendar makes things a bit more exciting? seldom used venues in 2020 made the season more enjoyable imo. a back to back in Saudi could be really interesting given that its new and the teams have little to no data on it.

or

its a tight battle and a few less races may likewise add interest as it will affect how the teams approach things.

less opportunity/points up for grabs, engine/part usage, and i suspect some teams woulnt mind freeing up some of that travel money and putting it back into some last minute performance upgrades?

feels wrong saying this as i will for sure start complaining if another 3 week gap shows up on account of a canceled GP plus i have previously complained about the season being too long before, but for this season, given how close it is, i am leaning toward replacements rather than cancelations.

i think lol!

[S griffin]

In my view, all this calendar uncertainty has justified my belief that there are too many races on the calendar and that quality is more important quantity. The fact that we have already had a duplicate race in Austria and there might be a few more as well to fill an over inflated character is quite ridiculous to me

[Skam85]

I'd love to see Hockenheim back

[Casper]

The Japanese GP is cancelled, this is starting to look worse than last year with no second race in Texas now confirmed if they even get the first one run.

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by Casper

The Japanese GP is cancelled, this is starting to look worse than last year with no second race in Texas now confirmed if they even get the first one run.

Which they won't

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by Skam85

I'd love to see Hockenheim back

I'm rather surprised that a race in Germany hasn't been proposed as a replacement as of yet

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

Which they won't

Only if the FIA cancels it, the track and Texas aren't cancelling anything

[Oldtony]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

Only if the FIA cancels it, the track and Texas aren't cancelling anything

The problem with Texas is getting co-operation from the Authorities to maintain the bubble and preventing some nutter taking them to court over being banned from some areas for not wearing a mask.

[wolfhound]

I see where there might be a GP at Qatar's Losail circuit in November to replace Australia, There are also doubts about the American (Brazil, Mexico & USA) races as well.


https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/qa...endar/6652366/

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by wolfhound

I see where there might be a GP at Qatar's Losail circuit in November to replace Australia, There are also doubts about the American (Brazil, Mexico & USA) races as well.


https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/qa...endar/6652366/

I find this quote from the article interesting...

Questions remain over the races in Mexico and Brazil, given their UK red list status, while Austin - which has been mooted for a possible double-header in October - is experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalisations.

Can anyone expand upon the topic of a second race in Austin being "mooted". I can't find any article anywhere that speaks to this. I tend to think that if they were able to host one, they would host two. And I see no indication that the US GP is at real risk.

As to the "surge in COVID-19 cases". That is not an Austin or Texas issue. That is pervasive across the entire US. Even then... I don't see the US changing protocols in any significant way. Generally speaking slowing or stopping the pandemic in the US is now about changing people's minds to get vaccinated. Which will be an uphill climb as people continue to try hard to find reasons to not do it. We are (sadly) settling into a new "normal"

Richard

[S griffin]

Qatar isn’t the best circuit, but it’s not the worst either. Certainly prefer it to Abu Dhabi

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by Richard Casto

I find this quote from the article interesting...



Can anyone expand upon the topic of a second race in Austin being "mooted". I can't find any article anywhere that speaks to this. I tend to think that if they were able to host one, they would host two. And I see no indication that the US GP is at real risk.

As to the "surge in COVID-19 cases". That is not an Austin or Texas issue. That is pervasive across the entire US. Even then... I don't see the US changing protocols in any significant way. Generally speaking slowing or stopping the pandemic in the US is now about changing people's minds to get vaccinated. Which will be an uphill climb as people continue to try hard to find reasons to not do it. We are (sadly) settling into a new "normal"

Richard

There have been multiple rounds of discussions of it on Racer in other articles. This happens to directly discuss it.

https://racer.com/2021/08/24/austin-...o-second-race/

The limitation is Austin has a large portion of the ICU beds for the area and would be the medical response center for the race. It has been SLIGHTLY better off than more rural in the state. But the state has to sign off before they can commit to hosting, but the chances they will not be told you're hosting it, make it work is VERY slim. So far it appears the sporting events have been fairly safe and not spreader events but information always gets added and response should change with new info.

Now if the FIA accepts the decision and planning of Austin is to be determined, but the chances they would cancel the GP without the host track cancelling seems slim but stranger things have happened.

[Richard C]

Thanks for the link. I had tried to find one that talked specifics. I could find plenty that just talked about the second race remaining a potential. But it sounds like this is more driven by FIA/F1 needs vs. potential for COTA to say "no".

And as you say... Anything can happen. I am not a betting person. While I think the US GP will happen. I would also not be shocked if something happens between now and then to derail it somehow.

Richard

[Alan52]

Originally Posted by Richard Casto

Thanks for the link. I had tried to find one that talked specifics. I could find plenty that just talked about the second race remaining a potential. But it sounds like this is more driven by FIA/F1 needs vs. potential for COTA to say "no".

And as you say... Anything can happen. I am not a betting person. While I think the US GP will happen. I would also not be shocked if something happens between now and then to derail it somehow.

Richard

There was mention -a expression of interest form for tickets I think-for a second Austin race up on the circuits web site for a while.It was then taken down.
Austin would have to be more likely to happen than Mexico or Brazil I would think.Either way decisions will have to be made in the next 2-4 weeks.

[S griffin]

Austin will probably not run two races, no. However I am expecting the USGP still to happen at this stage. As for Mexico and Brazil, we have to wait and see