“I think we will lose a race or two”– McLaren boss Zak Brown predicts that the new wave of COVID-19 will be fatal to the schedule.
Formula 1 in 2021 released its longest-ever schedule of 23 races while dismissing the fact that the COVID-19 virus will still exist. Last year, it still managed to pull off 17 races in a few months, but the addition of six more traces is a huge task.
Europe alone organized 14 out of 17 races, and this year, it will have more regions to cover. Thus, Zak Brown from McLaren thinks that it will lead to cancellation for a race or two.
“We think there’s going to be an impact; the calendar has already been changed once,” said Brown at the Bahrain Grand Prix. “I think the sport did an awesome job getting 17 races in half a year. It’s great we started in March.”
“I think we will lose a race or two. Not long ago, as you all know, the [Formula 1] calendar was 15, 16, 17 or 18 races, so I think if we can get in 20 races over a normal calendar season, that is a complete Formula 1 schedule.”
“I think we’ll have to see how things and vaccines roll out over the course of the year and see which countries may or may not be impacted. I’m confident we’ll get in 20 races through a March to December timeframe.”
Maybe the world is prepared.
Even with the new spike of viruses, the solution to the problem is there, as the vaccinations drive across the world has been implemented, and at this rate, in a few months, the world could attain the required immunity.
While the cases are growing, the world knows the virus better than the last year, leading to fewer deaths and severe cases. Overall, the management experiences from 2020 make F1 more equipped to deal with the situation.
