Good news follows bad news as COVID-19 dictates Formula 1’s future.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the sports world, a ray of sunshine fell on Formula 1 on Thursday. F.O.M. (Formula One Management) issued advanced payments to its ten teams.
The act ended speculation about whether four or more teams might go bankrupt. Several teams, including McLaren, Haas F1, Renault, Racing Point, and Williams, have furloughed employees, uncertain when the season will begin. Those teams all operate main factories in Great Britain.
Thursday’s payout came from Liberty Media, which owns the sport. It means that all ten teams will be on the track when racing begins.
“We’re not encouraging unwisely using our cash, but we are trying to balance the operating business of F1 and its current results against the operating results of our partners in the form of the teams, which do incur large costs,” said CEO Greg Maffei in a conference call to journalists. “There are cases where we may do more of that, and there are other things that we might do to bridge teams that need help. We are certainly not viewing this as an open checkbook.”
Jan Lammer (photo, Auto Motor Klassiek)
The announcement came one day after a postponed race in The Netherlands was canceled and shifted to the 2021 schedule. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has enforced a no public meetings law, and Jan Lammer, the racing director of that circuit, ruled out any chance for the event happening this year. “That is impossible for us,” Lammer remarked. “We did not want to present vague plans or come up with vague answers. We want to roll out the event as we had it planned and are also ready to activate it. But it is the virus that rules.”
With the larger view in mind, Formula 1 still plans to start the season in Austria come July, along with running as many as 18 additional races, perhaps with constrained staff and without an audience. But it’s too soon to conclude what will take place in Formula 1 2020.
