F1 cancelled this year?

[Deesee]

Sandpit Steve said:

Y Y Z said:

Sandpit Steve said:

Because F1 and the teams spent a lot of time and money working out travel plans and isolation for everyone involved. Everyone in the F1 “Bubble” will only travel by private planes and busses chartered exclusively for the first eight races, will stay in isolated and booked-out hotels, and won’t meet anyone who’s not been quarantined for two weeks beforehand - with everyone tested every few days and possibly even with a mobile testing lab following them around.

They’ve spent millions on the plan, specifically so that governments will let them move around between events. They’ve also defined a gold standard for other professional sports.

Is this plan available online from a bona fide source so I can read it? All I've read is hearsay.

Rather annoyingly they’ve not published it as a document, I assume because they’re still finalising the fine details, and have been leaking details to journalists instead. I’m going by what’s been reported on Sky and by reputable pit lane hacks like Joe Saward - who doesn’t yet know the arrangement for journalists at the races, so maybe that’s one thing still being worked through. Suffice to say that they’ve managed to get a number of governments, including a very sceptical UK government, on board with the plan.

I’m sure the British press pack, given half a chance to run a story about the government compromising safety to satisfy rich people’s desires to race cars and make money, will take it with both hands. The lack of such reporting so far suggests that F1 know what they’re doing.

No Fans, Sponsors or Journalists allowed in the Paddock, its likely the media will broadcast from a studio..

[LucyP]

Deesee said:

On my version, Red Bull Ring, Abu Dhabi both expired last yr, and of course theres no Zandvoort..

Normal requirements are a 60 day lead in time for a certificate to be issued before a Grade One event, if they are looking at September then thats 90+ days from now... plenty of time..

Deese - you need this one: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/circuits_f...

That is current. RBR is missing bizarrely and Zandvoort is listed as grade 2, as it has still to be upgraded from 2 to 1 which would have happened post inspection, which did not happen because of Corona. Abu Dhabi is current on that version.

[Deesee]

LucyP said:

Deesee said:

On my version, Red Bull Ring, Abu Dhabi both expired last yr, and of course theres no Zandvoort..

Normal requirements are a 60 day lead in time for a certificate to be issued before a Grade One event, if they are looking at September then thats 90+ days from now... plenty of time..

Deese - you need this one: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/circuits_f...

That is current. RBR is missing bizarrely and Zandvoort is listed as grade 2, as it has still to be upgraded from 2 to 1 which would have happened post inspection, which did not happen because of Corona. Abu Dhabi is current on that version.

Thanks, a little more update than mine, Spa has vanished too though (arghh).. & motorland added (hmm)..

Must be doing some additional work at Spa

[Fundoreen]

Similar to the fanatics that still travel to football finals and stand about outside in local bars whats the betting british fans will turn up and be hovering about silverstone in the hope of being let in?
Local police need to organize the roadblocks and watercannons as they will only suffer later.

[vaud]

Deesee said:

No Fans, Sponsors or Journalists allowed in the Paddock, its likely the media will broadcast from a studio..

As media often used to for fly away races, just taking the standard feed.

[Y Y Z]

Thanks TheDeuce and Sandpit Steve for the info. Cheers

[Sandpit Steve]

vaud said:

As media often used to for fly away races, just taking the standard feed.

Indeed. The aforementioned Joe Saward spent the late ‘80s as the local eyes and ears for Messrs Walker and Hunt, who stayed cooped up in a London studio watching the single world feed with a phone line open to the track. They relied on the journalist for timing gaps and noting pit stops, feeding back to the broadcasters.

Nowadays, with a hundred live 4K streams and a dozen data pages, the commentators could happily be anywhere and most of the audience wouldn’t notice.

Watching races with no crowd is going to be very weird. For the teams, it’s going to feel like lining up on the grid for a funny test session.

[V8 Stang]

Deesee said:

No Fans, Sponsors or Journalists allowed in the Paddock, its likely the media will broadcast from a studio..

Is that just team sponsors not allowed? rather than F1 sponsors.

As i happen to know DHL will be there (or at least planning) along with hospitality trailer in the paddock.

[vaud]

Sandpit Steve said:

Indeed. The aforementioned Joe Saward spent the late ‘80s as the local eyes and ears for Messrs Walker and Hunt, who stayed cooped up in a London studio watching the single world feed with a phone line open to the track. They relied on the journalist for timing gaps and noting pit stops, feeding back to the broadcasters.

I know Joe can be "marmite" but I really like the guy and his understanding of the sport and access is probably unrivalled.

[Sandpit Steve]

vaud said:

Sandpit Steve said:

Indeed. The aforementioned Joe Saward spent the late ‘80s as the local eyes and ears for Messrs Walker and Hunt, who stayed cooped up in a London studio watching the single world feed with a phone line open to the track. They relied on the journalist for timing gaps and noting pit stops, feeding back to the broadcasters.

I know Joe can be "marmite" but I really like the guy and his understanding of the sport and access is probably unrivalled.

I still don’t understand the marmite comment, except from a few idiots who made silly comments on his blog and got put in their place.

The guy has been to every race since I think 1987, and knows absolutely everyone in the paddock. Old fashioned journalism. His podcasts and recent ‘private audiences’ on Missed Apex youtube channel have been very good indeed.

Edit: this is the guy who did a paper lap chart for last year’s German GP
https://twitter.com/joesaward/status/1155723181514...

Edited by Sandpit Steve on Thursday 4th June 20:10

[vaud]

Sandpit Steve said:

I still don’t understand the marmite comment, except from a few idiots who made silly comments on his blog and got put in their place.

The guy has been to every race since I think 1987, and knows absolutely everyone in the paddock. Old fashioned journalism. His podcasts and recent ‘private audiences’ on Missed Apex youtube channel have been very good indeed.

As I said, I like him, subscribe to GP+ and follow the podcasts. Some find him a bit too "direct" but that is their issue. I've engaged with him on a few F1 topics directly and never found him to be anything other than extremely helpful.

[towser44]

V8 Stang said:

Deesee said:

No Fans, Sponsors or Journalists allowed in the Paddock, its likely the media will broadcast from a studio..

Is that just team sponsors not allowed? rather than F1 sponsors.

As i happen to know DHL will be there (or at least planning) along with hospitality trailer in the paddock.

I heard on one of the Sky F1 podcasts/video casts things that even the F1 teams aren't taking their motorhomes/race centres. Food etc will be served by the venue in the venue (probably using paddock club facilities) with all teams/personnel strictly split with no interaction.

[TheDeuce]

V8 Stang said:

Is that just team sponsors not allowed? rather than F1 sponsors.

As i happen to know DHL will be there (or at least planning) along with hospitality trailer in the paddock.

DHL are a supplier, they handle the logistics of moving the F1 circus around. They will be there in that capacity - not as sponsors. Although of course as an official supplier part of the deal is for their brand to get recognised, which it still will. They won't be able to bring in execs for a nice day out though.

Basically if you're not there to do a critical job, you're not coming in.

[Piginapoke]

Official Austrian GP thread now up!

[Chrisgr31]

Sandpit Steve said:

I’m sure the British press pack, given half a chance to run a story about the government compromising safety to satisfy rich people’s desires to race cars and make money, will take it with both hands. The lack of such reporting so far suggests that F1 know what they’re doing.

There is one twitter account mentioned further up the thread that is trying to argue that it’s all unsafe.

[Aftershox]

Just had MONZA tickets cancelled - Will aim for a refund for sure.

Gutted.

[ukaskew]

Sandpit Steve said:

Watching races with no crowd is going to be very weird. For the teams, it’s going to feel like lining up on the grid for a funny test session.

I think F1 will be one of the least affected sports in this respect, certainly from a TV viewing perspective. Quite a few races run with nobody but officials/photographers/marshals around a huge percentage of the track anyway.

Atmosphere is integral to something like elite football but with F1 it's not even noticeable at some races as it is.

[thegreenhell]

ukaskew said:

I think F1 will be one of the least affected sports in this respect, certainly from a TV viewing perspective.

If anything it should make it better for the TV viewers. They won't be able to cut to a shot of the reaction from the crowd or some Z-list sleb every time something happens on the track.

[Sandpit Steve]

ukaskew said:

Sandpit Steve said:

Watching races with no crowd is going to be very weird. For the teams, it’s going to feel like lining up on the grid for a funny test session.

I think F1 will be one of the least affected sports in this respect, certainly from a TV viewing perspective. Quite a few races run with nobody but officials/photographers/marshals around a huge percentage of the track anyway.

Atmosphere is integral to something like elite football but with F1 it's not even noticeable at some races as it is.

I was thinking more from the point of view of the competitors. What’s LH going to say when he steps out of the car, if there’s not thousands of fans to thank for turning up and following him around the world? Places like Silverstone are probably very different from the driver’s point of view when there’s 150,000 people cheering, but as you say it’s not quite a football match in that regard.

From an at-home fan’s perspective, it will make it easier to watch without the TV director continually cutting away from the action to shots of crowds or team guests.

[Craigyp79]

Sandpit Steve said:

ukaskew said:

Sandpit Steve said:

Watching races with no crowd is going to be very weird. For the teams, it’s going to feel like lining up on the grid for a funny test session.

I think F1 will be one of the least affected sports in this respect, certainly from a TV viewing perspective. Quite a few races run with nobody but officials/photographers/marshals around a huge percentage of the track anyway.

Atmosphere is integral to something like elite football but with F1 it's not even noticeable at some races as it is.

I was thinking more from the point of view of the competitors. What’s LH going to say when he steps out of the car, if there’s not thousands of fans to thank for turning up and following him around the world? Places like Silverstone are probably very different from the driver’s point of view when there’s 150,000 people cheering, but as you say it’s not quite a football match in that regard.

From an at-home fan’s perspective, it will make it easier to watch without the TV director continually cutting away from the action to shots of crowds or team guests.

No, instead they'll be continually cutting away to action shots of online watch parties..