Photo: essentiallysports.com
The start of the F1 season might be pushed back to a date later than June, which is the current estimation, depending on developments in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, teams are considering approaches to this unexpected early summer break, or dead time, as Helmul Marko, advisor of the Red Bull Formula 1 team calls it in a recent ORF interview cited by the BBC. Marko, for one, played with the idea of sending all drivers to what he calls “Coronavirus camp,” where they could get infected and treated together.
This would have prepared them, both physically and mentally, for the start of the season, whenever that might be. It’s already been said that, while so many countries are on lockdown, the measure is only meant to slow down the rate of infection to allow national healthcare systems to handle the influx of patients. At some point or another, everybody is probably going to catch the new Coronavirus.
Marko would rather have that moment be sooner than later. “The idea was to organize a camp where we could bridge this - mentally and physically - somewhat dead time. And that would be the ideal time for the infection to come,” he said.
If the drivers, four primary and 10 junior, were to get infected during this time, they would be receiving treatment together. Marko believed their physical condition guaranteed no complications during recovery time.
“These are all strong young men in really good health,” he explained. “That way they would be prepared whenever the action starts. And you can be ready for what will probably be a very tough championship once it starts.”
Marko’s idea was not well received and was duly abandoned. However, once his comments made their way into English-speaking media, he attracted much criticism for what many saw as an attempt at playing with drivers’ lives. In a statement to F1 Insider, the Red Bull F1 boss insists that he would never send his children into war to get killed: he only assumed that, if he probably survived the infection (he believes he got it in February but hasn’t been tested yet), they would be able to do the same.
For the record, Sweden has a similar approach to the pandemic, enforcing social distancing but not imposing harsher restrictions. The idea is that, since everyone is probably going to become infected, the best approach is to slow down the rate without putting the brakes on the economy.
This would have prepared them, both physically and mentally, for the start of the season, whenever that might be. It’s already been said that, while so many countries are on lockdown, the measure is only meant to slow down the rate of infection to allow national healthcare systems to handle the influx of patients. At some point or another, everybody is probably going to catch the new Coronavirus.
Marko would rather have that moment be sooner than later. “The idea was to organize a camp where we could bridge this - mentally and physically - somewhat dead time. And that would be the ideal time for the infection to come,” he said.
If the drivers, four primary and 10 junior, were to get infected during this time, they would be receiving treatment together. Marko believed their physical condition guaranteed no complications during recovery time.
“These are all strong young men in really good health,” he explained. “That way they would be prepared whenever the action starts. And you can be ready for what will probably be a very tough championship once it starts.”
Marko’s idea was not well received and was duly abandoned. However, once his comments made their way into English-speaking media, he attracted much criticism for what many saw as an attempt at playing with drivers’ lives. In a statement to F1 Insider, the Red Bull F1 boss insists that he would never send his children into war to get killed: he only assumed that, if he probably survived the infection (he believes he got it in February but hasn’t been tested yet), they would be able to do the same.
For the record, Sweden has a similar approach to the pandemic, enforcing social distancing but not imposing harsher restrictions. The idea is that, since everyone is probably going to become infected, the best approach is to slow down the rate without putting the brakes on the economy.
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