“One Person Could Become Infected” – Renault F1 Still Wary of COVID-19 Threat

In just a week’s time, Formula One will finally return after a long coronavirus-induced break. Initially, the season would have begun in Australia, back in March. Sadly, the COVID-19 virus gripped the paddock and the Australian GP got cancelled. Though F1 is back, some F1 teams, like Renault are a bit worried about the issue flaring up again.

In light of this, more races chose to drop out, thus prolonging the wait for F1 fans and the teams as well. Finally, Formula One provided some clarity on the 2020 calendar and presented a truncated one.

After much debate, F1 is back in action, amid a lot of preventive measures. So, the good news is that Grand Prix race are back on the cards and the season can kick off. However, Renault team boss Cyril Abiteboul believes that it will be difficult to follow these measures.

Speaking to Crash.net and other media, Abiteboul said, “The biggest risk to the teams are multiple factors. It is a balance between risk, feasibility and necessity. Finding a balance is difficult. The biggest challenge will probably be to apply the measures within the team.”

Renault is afraid that nobody is out of the woods yet

Granted, that F1 has taken every measure possible, but they can only go so far. In other words, there is still a risk of getting infected. According to him, if there is an infection within the team, it could hurt the team very badly and affect their chance of  racing.

He said, “There is, of course, a chance that one person could become infected. That would mean that the whole team would be shut down until all the test results have been received. That test can take 24 hours before the results are in.”

He narrated a hypothetical scenario where somebody tests positive on Saturday morning. So, the chances of them participating in qualifying will be non-existent. There are some discussions on finalising everything around the measures and a the FIA put in a lot of work in the measures.