An Ghost games in football are now used, ghost races in Formula 1 are new territory. 112 days after the canceled start of the season in Melbourne, the premier class at the Red Bull Ring premiered a Grand Prix without an audience. The race of the fastest drivers in the world felt like a cross between test drives and a video game.
There were no spectators, no traffic jams, not even advertising posters that indicated that this was the first major international event since the outbreak of the Corona crisis. The otherwise loud Grand Prix circus started incognito. The 5000-person community of Spielberg must be pleased that it is the center of the sports world for two weekends – the second Grand Prix of the year will take place at the same location next weekend.
The microcosm Formula 1 has been reduced to 2000 people for the experiment together with the frame races. They travel, work and live in small groups, which ideally should not meet. That is why all paths on the site or in the buildings of the facility are one-way streets like the race track itself. The Covid 19 plan divides staff into 57 enclaves. And these split up again into around 100 sub-groups.
At Ferrari, the mechanics of the two drivers screw in separate bearings. Even the employees of the World Automobile Association (Fia) are divided into 15 bubbles. “There are four of us in the race management office. Even outside the track, I can only meet with my three colleagues, ”said race director Michael Masi. Not even with his technology commissioner Jo Bauer, who is one of the few people who have access to all garages. If the cars come to him for inspection, the measuring station must be disinfected after each check. “Everything is taking a little longer now,” said Sauber team manager Beat Zehnder.
Where different warehouses come into contact, a strict mask requirement applies. At press conferences, in the garages, at the award ceremony. The briefing of the drivers and team managers took place on the digital platform “Zoom”. For the first time you didn’t see each other face to face. The Pirelli engineers checked their tires in separate areas. They are not part of the teams and are considered foreign bodies. When a photo of Sebastian Vettel appeared in conversation with Red Bull bosses Christian Horner and Helmut Marko on Twitter, there were warnings for everyone involved. The picture was deleted immediately.
“We have to be a role model here,” it says from the Formula 1 warehouse. Everything seems a bit exaggerated, but you don’t want to show yourself in front of the world. The positive Corona case of a McLaren mechanic in Australia shows aftermath. In the event that there is a new case, emergency scenarios have been developed. The event is no longer canceled immediately if someone is infected. The national health authorities determine where the upper limit is.
The Fia safety plan is 73 pages long, the effort to navigate the motorsport community through the weekend with the least risk is unprecedented. Anyone who meets the strict approval requirements must be tested for the virus every five days. The seven test stations are open around the clock. The samples are flown to a laboratory in Munich. The result is available after 24 hours. Fia President Jean Todt praises: “Great things have been done by many parties to get this done. We could have put our hands in our laps and said: let’s wait until the crisis is over. ”But then Formula One would not have been the same. No money without racing. The TV stations and series sponsors only pay if there are at least 15 races. The British traditional teams McLaren and Williams are already fighting for survival with a reduced program.
You have to get used to many new pictures during this time, which are determined by the fear of a virus: free roads on the way to the route; empty parking lots; Cows now graze in the meadows, where campers, tents and food stands are usually located and fans have celebrated wild parties; In the paddock there are container houses instead of motorhomes. Every driver and every team boss has one. The rest of the team is in the VIP boxes above their boxes. The teams floated in charter planes at the nearby military airport in Zeltweg.
That kept the paths short and the bubble closed. Only world champion Lewis Hamilton was allowed an exception. The world champion landed in a rented private jet in Graz. And resided like his boss Toto Wolff, team-mate Valtteri Bottas and Sebastian Vettel in a mobile home 50 meters from the paddock. Press conferences were held without the media. They were digitally connected three floors higher. Nevertheless, the drivers had to wear face masks. Just like with the winner interviews on the home stretch. Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen already lined up well after the qualification training on Saturday at a distance of two meters until it was their turn.
On Sunday, after the race, it was even more extraordinary – because Formula 1 had never seen such an award ceremony. For Bottas (Mercedes), Leclerc (Ferrari) and Norris (McLaren) it was not on the podium, but only on the start-and-finish straight. Drinks and a towel were brought in with a remote-controlled transport cart – along with a cap with the logo of the unit tire manufacturer and a medical face mask that had to be worn during the award ceremony. The mobile platforms were placed in such a way that the pilots did not get too close, and the trophies were handed over without contact. However, champagne was used for the splash – also because a sparkling wine producer is one of the major sponsors of the series.
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