F1 joins Formula E by postponing Chinese Round due to Coronavirus

As the number of coronavirus cases increase, the FIA & F1 have taken the decision to postpone the Chinese GP. As the country continues to struggle other motorsport series organisers have big decisions to make in the coming weeks.

For F1, it is not the first time a Grand Prix has been moved due to domestic trouble, with the Bahrain GP completely cancelled in 2011. However with such a compact calendar, rearraging the race may prove to be impossible.

The FIA confirmed their concern for the health of all involved;

“In view of the continued spread of novel coronavirus and after ongoing discussions with the Federation of Automobile and Motorcycle Sports of People’s Republic of China (CAMF) and Shanghai Administration of Sports, the Chinese Grand Prix Promoter, Juss Sports Group, has officially requested that the 2020 FIA Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix be postponed.”

Already, the Sanya ePrix has been postponed, leaving another lengthy gap between the Marrakesh ePrix on 29 February and Rome ePrix on 4 April.

Formula E says the decision was made to protect the health and safety of people involved in the race, due to the spread of coronavirus. The epicentre of the virus is in Wuhan and Sanya lies 1000KM away.

It is no surprise to see this decision as more than 300 people have died from the outbreak and over 15,000 people have been infected.

Sanya may still hold an ePrix should the situation improve in China. There is a four week gap in May which between the Seoul and Jakarta races so the championship could still visit the Chinese city whilst the series is touring Asia.

The other options are to have a double-header in either New York or Berlin.

Meanwhile, Shanghai – the destination of the Chinese Grand Prix on 17-19 April – is around 600KM away from Whuan so the only sensible decision was for the race to be postponed or cancelled.

There it too much risk for the event to happen and consequently make the already worsening situation even worse.

With tens of thousands of people attending the Chinese Grand Prix, they will be in close contact with people from all over the world so if anything is passed on, that will spread worldwide and the risk of this is too high to take a chance on.

The teams start shipping equipment and parts to flyaway events at least six weeks in advance so a decision had to be taken before the season start at March. Forecasts suggest things will not improve in China until late February at best so F1 and the FIA needed to prevent any possibility of making a mess of things and cancel the race now.

Anything but this would have been irresponsible. Skiing, athletics, snooker and other sports have already cancelled events.

Shanghai has requested to swap places with the Russian Grand Prix but the Russian Association say that they would struggle to sell tickets if this was the case.

There is also the issue of Formula 2 and Formula 3 set to race in Sochi. Russia was meant to be the finale for F3 so a straight-swap is far from straightforward.

Perhaps a Japan-China swap is on the cards but other than that, there is realistically no room for the Chinese Grand Prix on the calendar now it will not take place in April.

With world health a priority, sporting entertainment should not even be in the heads as the situation in China is serious to say the least. It should not even be questioned whether F1 should go to Shanghai.