Bubbles within bubbles as F1 teams gear up for season start

[webfact]

Bubbles within bubbles as F1 teams gear up for season start

By Alan Baldwin

 

FILE PHOTO: Formula One F1 - Singapore Grand Prix - Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore - September 20, 2019 Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel and mechanics during practice REUTERS/Feline Lim/File Photo

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Formula One teams will operate in bubbles within bubbles when the season starts behind closed doors in Austria next week after being stalled since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

There will be no spectators, no sponsors or VIP guests wandering the paddock and limited social interaction even between team mates.

 

Ferrari sporting director Laurent Mekies reckons the biggest challenge, for his mechanics at least, could be having to wear face masks at all times in the heat and tight confines of the garage.

 

"We have been starting to get used to it all of us now, because it’s becoming part of our normal life," the Frenchman told reporters in a video call ahead of the July 5 opener to discuss the 'new normal' and safety protocols.

 

"Here at Ferrari it’s compulsory, so we wear it (the mask) at all times in the factory... but it’s one thing to wear it in the office environment, another to wear it when it would be 40 degrees at the racetrack."

 

Ferrari will try to schedule regular breaks for breathing exercises.

 

Formula One will have three races on successive weekends to get the season started, with two at Spielberg's Red Bull Ring before moving on to Hungary. Others will then follow in quick succession.

 

Teams are limited to 80 people each, with everyone having to register a negative COVID-19 test less than four days before arriving in Austria.

Testing will then be conducted every five days, rather than the two initially mooted.

 

"The Formula One paddock will be a bubble," said Mekies. "But inside... you will have an individual bubble for each team with pretty much no or minimum interaction between a bubble or a team and another.

 

"So you will not see, as we all like and as you used to see, people from a team having a casual chat with people from another team.

 

"Inside the team bubble, which is inside the F1 bubble, we will also do more bubbles," added the Frenchman.

 

"So you will have probably the car 16 (Charles Leclerc) bubble and the car 5 (Sebastian Vettel) bubble and inside them probably engineers and mechanics and so forth."

 

The separation means anyone who tests positive will have had limited contact with others, with tested stand-ins ready to be slotted in if needed.

Team members will also either spend their time at the track or hotel, with no going out.

 

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ken Ferris)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-06-25

 

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[roquefort]

"Spielberg's Red Bull Ring "

 

Thought it was strange, the world famous film director interested in motorsport. Then realised.....it's a place.

[mrfill]

2 hours ago, roquefort said:

"Spielberg's Red Bull Ring "

 

Thought it was strange, the world famous film director interested in motorsport. Then realised.....it's a place.

Its a damn site more attractive than the film director too....

[Pilotman]

well that should make one of the least attractive TV sports even more boring than usual.  They should have stuck to virtual FI, I doubt that most of us would know the difference, or care very much.   

[IAMHERE]

Those teams could have all been 'herd immunized' by now. Best doctors and medical care in the world and many of them healthy as can be. They should have all got and got over Covid-19 by now.

[khunken]

45 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

well that should make one of the least attractive TV sports even more boring than usual.  They should have stuck to virtual FI, I doubt that most of us would know the difference, or care very much.   

This is not exactly virtual F1 but what some fans amused themselves with during the cancelled race period.

 

[alien365]

I can't wait for it to start again. No crowd will make no difference to me watching it on TV. If anything it should be better as coverage will focus more on the track rather than cutting to people waving in the stands. Hoping Hamilton gets off to a good start but it will be tough at a 'red bull' circuit.

[digger70]

50 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

well that should make one of the least attractive TV sports even more boring than usual.  They should have stuck to virtual FI, I doubt that most of us would know the difference, or care very much.   

No one has forced you to watch the F1 . No has asked you what you like or not . 

[Pilotman]

Just now, alien365 said:

I can't wait for it to start again. No crowd will make no difference to me watching it on TV. If anything it should be better as coverage will focus more on the track rather than cutting to people waving in the stands. Hoping Hamilton gets off to a good start but it will be tough at a 'red bull' circuit.

They should just give Lewis the Trophy and call it a year.  He will kill the opposition in such a short season. However, Max will win the first race, Lewis second, Bottas third.  

[Pilotman]

1 minute ago, digger70 said:

No one has forced you to watch the F1 . No has asked you what you like or not . 

it's a forum, its what it's for. You don't need an invitation to have an opinion.  Too complicated for you? 

[digger70]

1 minute ago, Pilotman said:

it's a forum, its what it's for. You don't need an invitation to have an opinion.  Too complicated for you? 

Not complicated , That's not an opinion you posted .That's just a Negative  not needed Reply.

[Pilotman]

4 minutes ago, digger70 said:

Not complicated , That's not an opinion you posted .That's just a Negative  not needed Reply.

You seem a tad confused; opinions can be negative or positive, that's why they are called opinions. 

 

 

o·pin·ion

/əˈpinyən/

Learn to pronounce

 

noun

 

1. a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.

Edited June 26, 2020 by Pilotman

[alien365]

5 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

They should just give Lewis the Trophy and call it a year.  He will kill the opposition in such a short season. However, Max will win the first race, Lewis second, Bottas third.  

Being a short season gives the others more of a chance, especially as the first two races are at the red bull circuit. If Max wins the first two pressure will be on Lewis. I want Lewis to win but I find watching the midfield more exciting. They have less to lose, get hot headed and make more risky moves. I'm really hoping Williams have made some headway this year too and join in that battle.

[digger70]

12 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

You seem a tad confused; opinions can be negative or positive, that's why they are called opinions. 

 

 

o·pin·ion

/əˈpinyən/

Learn to pronounce

 

noun

 

1. a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.

Still negative and not Needed.