Isn’t it strange that just a few months ago, the entire F1 paddock was complaining of an increasingly hectic schedule and here we are today staring at the possibility of the entire season being suspended? The large-scale outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus has left the world of sport, along with the global economy, in tatters. Preventive measures such as avoiding public gatherings and international travel will and already have directly impacted major sporting events across the globe on a large scale.
Global sports and economy is at risk
Football matches in Europe are being played behind closed doors, MotoGP races are getting cancelled left, right and center and the entire NBA season has been suspended. As other big sporting events follow suit, not cancelling races would make F1 look highly inconsiderate and would make it stick out like a sore thumb in the world of sport.
The pressure is already on the pinnacle of motorsport; the Chinese GP has been cancelled, the Vietnam GP is under serious threat and should things carry on the way they have been, the entire European leg could be in jeopardy. Ideally then, keeping health and safety in mind, Formula One should suspend the season and wait for matters to improve.
Why F1 may not be able to cancel races
However, it isn’t as easy as just that; as Lewis Hamilton pointed out in his pre-race press conference, ‘Cash is king’. Cancelling even a single round can bring about great financial losses to the promoters, the competitors and the sport itself. Earning no ticket revenues, broadcast revenue or sponsorship fees can make the pockets of all the stakeholders look much weaker.
Additionally, the major issue of deciding how to manage salaries also comes into picture. Can you pay the drivers and the team staff if the team isn’t working? Who bears the losses – the employees, the companies or the state?
This can create a hectic legal situation which can take significant time and effort to clear out. Moreover, the complicated global logistics of the sport which is planned months in advance could require some major restructuring in a hurry. Cancelling any event comes with significant costs too.
How must F1 react in such cases?
So what should Formula One do then? Should it go the moral way or should it let things stay as they are? Surely, Formula One must react to this global crisis but how? Can a football-like approach of racing behind closed doors be adopted for the whole season and just not Bahrain?
This must be one of the major challenges that the executives of Formula One will be facing at the moment. Not only must they react, but they must react fast before things get too late. Much like other mysteries such as ‘when will the COVID-19 pandemic fully end?’, this mystery surrounding how Formula One will deal with the outbreak should unravel with time.
As much as the heart and the commercial mind says ‘Let’s go racing’, the harsh reality is that for now, motorsport is far from being the global need of the hour.
Media Credits: Red Bull, Formula One
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