McLaren CEO Zak Brown opened up on a possible flaw in F1’s revised 2020 calendar schedule. As things stand, Formula 1 will begin racing by July 5 with the Austrian Grand Prix. There’s a high chance the race in Spielberg goes as planned but Brown believes the real problem lies just ahead.
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McLaren boss Brown reveals a possible problem in F1’s targeted calendar
Due to Coronavirus, Formula 1 has canceled or postponed nearly half the season’s calendar. We’re yet to go racing in 2020 but the season is down 10 races already. There could be a few more postponements, causing a fair amount of unrest among the teams.
If teams don’t compete in races, sponsors withhold payments, resulting in a financial crunch. As a result, teams’ finances and future developmental projects take a sizeable hit. To mitigate the effect of the financial crisis, the sport is desperate to hold a few races this season.
Despite the ongoing epidemic, Formula 1 unveiled a revised calendar to salvage something from a season that’s fast disappearing. As per F1’s new plan, the sport will hold the first few rounds in Europe under closed doors. Next, F1 plans to go racing in Asia in September/October and then onto the Americas by November. If F1 can legitimately stick to its targeted calendar, the season could end in Abu Dhabi by December.
However, McLaren boss Zak Brown believes the major problem begins when teams need to fly across continents. Speaking to Sky Sports, Brown said:
“I’m going to assume that we’re going to hit a glitch, somewhere along the way. If we want to go to Asia or America, I think it’s going to be when we get on planes and have to fly overseas where I think the risk will start to potentially get greater.”
“I think we will do a couple of races in Austria, a couple of races at Silverstone,”
“If we start running into issues with traveling, then I think you could see doubling up some other races.
As much as fans would like to finally witness some form of racing, F1 must do everything in its power to prevent a repeat of the farce that was the Australian Grand Prix.
