The suspension of the GP of China, shortly after that of the Indoor Athletics World Championship, highlights the importance of the crisis.
Ricciardo, during the first free session of the 2019 Chinese GP.
The threat in Shanghai, 800 kilometers east of Wuhan, was unacceptable for Formula 1, which decided yesterday to postpone the Chinese GP, fourth round of the 2020 World Cup. The 44,000 cases diagnosed with coronavirus, with almost 1,100 deaths on the table, ended for convincing Liberty Media, the company that owns the business, which must now solve the puzzle of its tight schedule.
The International Federation (FIA) and F1 yesterday accepted the request of the promoter of the GP of China to guarantee the health and safety of all those involved, which remains their main concern. A compelling argument to postpone a grand prize that added 16 consecutive editions since its incorporation there by 2004.
Fitting the race is now a challenge, admitted Chase Carey, head of Liberty, overwhelmed by the rush just one month after the start of the championship, next March 15 in Melbourne. Not even the power of seduction of the Grand Circus has been able to impose itself on sanitary prevention, which forces to postpone an appointment initially scheduled for next April 19.
“We are still waiting”
A few days ago, the coronavirus had also hit the Indoor Athletics World Cup, which should start on March 13 in Nankn, but which was postponed next year. A tremendous setback for the star sport of the Games, which starts on July 24 in Tokyo.
At this point no one can rule out any more serious incidence in the Olympic event. For now, the Games are not in danger, just yesterday Juan Antonio Samaranch, vice president of the IOC, during an event in Barcelona. We have suspended many winter events in China, but we are still waiting to see what happens, added Spanish in reference to the qualifying tests of boxing, wrestling and women's football.
Outside the Olympic arena, it is necessary to mention the problems affecting the Asian Champions League or the transfer to Indonesia of the China Golf Open. Nor can we forget the change of venue in the Ski World Cup, scheduled in Xiaohaituo, or the cancellation of the Tour of Hainan, corresponding to the UCI ProSeries.
Since Bahrain 2011
In the motor world, the GP of Sanya, appointment of the Formula E scheduled for March 21, was also canceled. However, the 10 pending races of the electric category until the end of the course in July are nothing like the F1 awards, which in 2020 had planned a record of 22 races.
Nine years after the Arab Spring revolts erased the 2011 Bahrain GP, Liberty must face a demanding challenge that will test its organizational and logistical reflexes. And the relocation of Shanghai is a tremendous headache in the middle of the calendar.
Deleting April 19 implies a four-weekend gap between the Vietnam GP, which opens in Hanoi on April 5, and the Dutch GP, whose expected return to the World Cup will take place on May 5 in Zandvoort. The inevitable overload will move to the second half of the championship, after the return of the holidays in Blgica: no less than nine races in 14 weeks. The teams, which have already refused to truncate the August holidays, also do not want to talk about a World Cup closing in December, after the Abu Dhabi GP.
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