Positive test won’t force a race to stall

THE REVISED Formula One calendar should be finalised by the end of this month, with chief executive Chase Carey revealing races would still go ahead even if somebody involved tested positive for coronavirus.

An eight-race European schedule was revealed on Tuesday, including two at Silverstone, with all of them to be behind closed doors.

F1 bosses are hoping to stage between 15 and 18 grands prix this year and while Carey (pictured) remains confident in that goal, he will not set any hard deadlines, with safety still the priority.

‘We feel good about it,’ he said. ‘We are in uncharted waters. We continue to have a lack of visibility beyond a fairly short timeframe.

We’re not going to give a deadline. With the fluidity of the situation, a deadline would create pressures which may not be right and realistic so we’re thinking of goals. Our goal is before the end of June to, if not complete the

We recognise that at times we can’t have two metres between every individual

calendar, have a handle on it.’ The calendar came with rigorous safety guidelines, which Carey said will be like ‘living in a bubble’ for the limited number of personnel at races. ‘Clearly we recognise at times, we can’t have two metres between every individual on a team,’ Carey said.

‘When a car pulls into a pit and has to change four tyres, there won’t be two metres between every individual. We need to make sure we have procedures to manage all those risks.’

The Australian Grand Prix was called off at the 11th hour in March, with McLaren having already withdrawn from the event after one of their mechanics tested positive.

But should an individual test positive at an upcoming event, the race would still go ahead. Carey added: ‘We encourage teams to have procedures in place so if an individual has to be put in quarantine, we have the ability to quarantine them at a hotel and to replace that individual.’