Formula 1 puts British government under pressure and bargains with Hockenheim
F1 News
- GPblog.com
The measures announced by the British government to combat the coronavirus seem to make a double Grand Prix at Silverstone at the end of July impossible. At the moment, Formula 1 would do everything possible to get an exception to the quarantine measure from Boris Johnson.
According to the announced guidelines in Great Britain, everyone entering the country will soon be obliged to go into quarantine for a fortnight. Since Formula 1 and all its teams will still be in Austria the weekend before the British Grand Prix, that would make a race at Silverstone impossible.
According to the Daily Mail, the bosses of Formula 1 are now doing everything they can to get an exception for this. Negotiations are taking place at the highest level. In order to get as strong a negotiating position as possible, they are in far-reaching talks with Hockenheim, who will act as a replacement. It is hoped that the government does not want to lose face by losing their Grand Prix to the Germans.
In Germany, only the gate has yet to be opened
"Quarantine would make it impossible to have a British Grand Prix this year. We would be travelling back to the UK on F1-only aircraft and all staff would be tested, making quarantine totally unnecessary", said a spokesman for Formula 1.
Negotiations with Hockenheim would meanwhile be at an advanced stage, with only 'the key in the fence still to be turned'. While Hockenheim seemed to disappear from the calendar indefinitely prior to the season, the British Grand Prix is now in serious danger for the first time in history.