Bafflement as F1 dithers over Grand Prix calendar

The 5.6km circuit features 23 corners and has nine grandstands named after regions across Vietnam (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi authorities met with F1 chairman and CEO Chase Carey last week to discuss the status of the first-ever Vietnam F1 Grand Prix, which was due to take place on April 3-5 but has now been shelved.

The F1 2020 calendar, along with other major sporting events, has been plunged into chaos. China’s race was already cancelled, and Bahrain’s was set to take place behind closed doors before also being scrapped on Friday.

And last week fans were livid after the Australian Grand Prix was cancelled just hours before the practice session, with F1 race teams fleeing the country, others stuck in quarantine, and fans struggling to plan amid ongoing global travel issues and visa alterations.

Avid racing fans feared a repeat in Vietnam, as no decision was immediately forthcoming over the status of the Hanoi leg, and many took to social media to share their own situation.

On Twitter, British fan Caroline said before the postponement, “What are people who have trips to Vietnam planned supposed to do? I got my e-visa. I had my vaccinations. I have travel insurance. I’ve done everything properly, but now I probably won’t be allowed entry into Vietnam.”

Andy, who lives in the UAE, tweeted, “According to the cancellation policy of F1 ticketing, they only refund if the promoter agrees that action. I have two tickets for Vietnam and can’t actually get there now because of the new visa policy. F1 is not interested. If they hold the event we lose $500 per ticket.”

China’s Shanghai race was the first to fall, postponed indefinitely a month ago due to the severity of the coronavirus impact on the country. The event was the fourth on this year’s calendar, set to take place two weeks after Hanoi.

A week ago it was announced that the Bahrain Grand Prix, due to be staged this weekend, would take place behind closed doors because of the outbreak, but infections continued to rise leading to more drastic action to be taken.

A statement from race organisers said, “As an F1 host nation, balancing the welfare of supporters and race-goers is a tremendous responsibility. Given the continued spread of COVID-19 globally, convening a major sporting event which is open to the public and allows thousands of international travellers and local fans to interact in close proximity would not be the right thing to do at the present time.”

But in what had increasingly looked to be an inevitable decision, the demise of the Australian race was a drawn-out affair which angered many.

The season opener was finally cancelled after a McLaren team member tested positive before the first practice session was scheduled to get underway in Melbourne. F1’s Carey said the rapidly-changing situation made it difficult to say when the season might get underway.

“It is a difficult situation to predict. Everybody uses the word ‘fluid’ and it is a fluid situation,” Carey told a media conference in Melbourne after landing from Hanoi. “We will in the coming days be looking at races that are more imminent like Bahrain and Vietnam, and will have further announcements on how we navigate our schedule.”

Those announcements were set for this week, but the fast pace of the global action against COVID-19 led Carey and company to push forward a proper decision.

McLaren said in a statement that 14 of its crew, in addition to the one confirmed case, were placed in quarantine at their local hotel for 14 days in accordance with health directives.

The governing bodies finally broke cover almost 12 hours after McLaren announced they were withdrawing on Thursday night. The FIA (auto racing’s global governing body) and F1 issued a joint statement with the race organisers.

“Following the confirmation that a member of the McLaren Racing Team has tested positive for COVID-19 and the team’s decision to withdraw from the Australian Grand Prix, the FIA and Formula 1 convened a meeting of the other nine team principals on Thursday evening,” the statement read. “Those discussions concluded with a majority view of the teams that the race should not go ahead. The FIA and Formula 1, with the full support of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, have therefore taken the decision that all Formula 1 activity for the Australian Grand Prix is cancelled.”

It was not explained why the decision to finally halt the event took so long, or why so little information was offered beforehand. It was speculated that deciding on who was to take responsibility for postponement between state authorities, organisers, the FIA, and F1 itself may have contributed to the dragged-out process.

Earlier that day, F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton placed pressure on race organisers by claiming lives were being put in danger, with 300,000 fans expected through the gates at Melbourne. “I am really surprised that we are here,” the six-time champion said. “I think it’s really shocking that we are all sitting in this room. It’s a concern for the people here – it’s quite a big circus that’s come here and it’s definitely concerning for me.”

Meanwhile, his racing rivals Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen had already packed up and gone home.

Demonstrating how quickly the pandemic is affecting sports events, on Monday organisers insisted there was “not a chance” the Australian Grand Prix would be stopped.

The Australian government’s chief medical officer said at the start of the week that he did not believe there was a risk in staging the Grand Prix weekend. By Friday, based on new information, he advised Prime Minister Scott Morison to cancel major gatherings.

Morrison said, “Based on the advice we have received today about the increasing number of cases on the evidence of community transition, it has been recommended we move to a position by Monday where we will be advising against organised non-essential gatherings of persons of 500 people or greater.”

The Hanoi race was set to be the first-ever F1 event in the country and fans, while angry, are trying to understand the situation and simply wished for quicker clarity.

On Twitter, F1 fan Tim said, “The Vietnam embassy in London is no longer issuing tourist visas for UK nationals, so I’ve cancelled my trip to Hanoi. It’s just bad luck with this virus. I don’t blame the Vietnamese government.”

Jess from England also added, “As much as I want to see F1 back in full swing as a fan, I think the right was to cancel Bahrain and Vietnam. Then assess the situation in a few weeks with regards to the next races after that.”