The McLaren F1 team staff who were forced into quarantine are set for an imminent return home. Reports suggest that it could be by the end of the week itself.
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The team went into quarantine after one of their colleagues tested positive ahead of the Australian Grand Prix. The McLaren F1 team pulled out of the race. This triggered a chain of events leading to Formula 1 canceling the races at Albert Park as well as Bahrain and Vietnam. In the next 2 weeks, further races have been canceled in The Netherlands, Spain, Monaco, and Azerbaijan.
The McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl says the team is fine, but will not get the clearance to travel before the expiration of the 2 weeks. He reveals that he was with the team for a few extra days and some senior members are still there. “We look forward to welcoming everyone back to the UK this week,” said Seidl.
The unnamed team member received a clean bill of health and returned home. He tested positive on the 14th of March. Hence the quarantine period for the team would end on the 28th of March.
McLaren will adhere to Summer Shutdown
Seidl confirmed the McLaren team would shut its Woking factory for 3 weeks starting from the 25th of March. This is in adherence to Formula 1’s decision to advance its traditional summer break and free up weekends to reschedule races later in the year.
“We are reacting as quickly as possible to the changing situation and the advice from the UK government. Therefore at McLaren, our shutdown period will be from Wednesday 25 March to Tuesday 14 April 2020 inclusive,” said Seidl
Formula 1 will have a tough time in rescheduling all the races. They will have to rejig the calendar or even extend well into December or January 2021 to achieve their target of conducting 15-18 races as part of the 2020 season. However, the sport was desperate for good news in these troubled times. And there can be nothing better than learning that the team member is safe and the entire team will soon be back home and reunited with their families.
