Coronavirus Lockdown: Impact On International Motorsport

Published March 23, 2020
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5 min read

Here’s a closer look at the aftermath of COVID-19 on motorsports series around the world

It’s gonna be our year! So many people must have said going into 2020. Well, the harsh reality of human suffering has caught up with the entire world, with the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) that was first reported in Wuhan, China. It has led to quarantines and lockdowns around the world with many major events either cancelled or postponed. The effect of the outbreak has also reached the international motorsports arena where many events are being called off. Here’s a rundown of all that’s happening in motorsports:

Formula One

It started with the most obvious rescheduling of the Chinese Grand Prix, with the season-opening Australian Grand Prix being called off just a couple of hours before free practice. After that, Bahrain was also delayed despite the initial plan to run it as a closed-door event. Shortly after, the Dutch, Spanish and Azerbaijan Grand Prix were deferred with Monaco being the second cancelled race.

With COVID-19 causing lockdowns in many areas, the F1 teams haven’t been able to do any R&D on the 2021 regulation changes. Hence, it was decided to implement the 2021 technical regulations from 2022. However, the 2021 cars will be mostly 2020 spec with a development freeze. Also, the budget cap will take effect in 2021. The season looks set to take place on June 14 at the Canadian Grand Prix, although even that is highly optimistic as it comes just a week after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which was slated to be the start of the season.

F1’s commercial boss Chase Carey has admitted that the situation remains ‘fluid’ and the sport will take decisions only based on what is advisable.

While there are people among the paddock like the Dutch GP organiser who aren’t confident whether there will be a season after all, some like the Italian Grand Prix boss are hopeful. However, it will be an uphill task to cram close to 18 races within a span of around six months.

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These delays and cancellations have also trickled down to F1’s feeder series Formula 2 and Formula 3. It will be a while before we see India’s Jehan Daruvala make his F2 debut as a Red Bull junior driver.

MotoGP

The world of premier class two-wheeler motorsports has also had setbacks due to the coronavirus situation. It started with a weird season opener in Qatar where the premier-class event was cancelled, but the Moto2 and Moto3 class had their season opener. Unlike F1 though, the calendar has provided revisions multiple times with the deferral of the USA, Thailand and Argentine Grand Prix. As it stands, Jerez, Spain is set to host the opening round of the championship on May 3 with a triple-header season finale starting from Austin on November 15 to Valencia on November 29.

Formula-E

The 2019/2020 ABB FIA Formula-E Championship has already gone through five races, but it was one of the few motorsport series to take quick action. It started with the rescheduling of the Chinese E-Prix, followed by Rome and Jakarta. Eventually, a two-month suspension of their racing calendar was announced. This meant that the races in Seoul, South Korea and Paris, France joined the list of postponed E-Prix. Tentatively, Formula-E action is set to resume on June 21 in Berlin followed by New York and the double-header season finale in London.

World Endurance Championship

Like Formula-E, the 2019-2020 World Endurance has gone ahead with four races, but the season has come to a halt of sorts starting with the cancellation of the 12hrs of Sebring due to the US declaring a travel ban to the country from Europe for 30 days. Shortly after, the penultimate round at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, and the season finale 24hrs of LeMans were also deferred. While the 24hrs of LeMans has been revised for September 19-20, 2020, a new date for the Belgium race is yet to be decided.

World Rally Championship

In the world of off-road motorsports, the WRC season has run relatively trouble-free for the opening two rallies. But the third rally of the season, the Rally Guanajuato Mexico had to be shortened and finished at the Rock & Rally León stage.

Six-time WRC champion Sebastien Loeb, who won Rally Mexico, was highly critical of the event going ahead as planned.

Besides, the Speedagro Rally Argentina scheduled for April 23-26 has also been delayed. At the moment, there is no revised date for the rally with further WRC rounds under threat of being rescheduled or called off.

Others

The high-profile Isle Of Man TT, scheduled for May 30 to June 13, has also been dropped due to the coronavirus situation. The 2020 Merzouga Rally, which gives competitors a chance to qualify for the prestigious Dakar Rally, has also been cancelled. It is essentially a preparatory rally for Dakar with identical colour roadbooks and navigation instruments.

At the moment, the schedule for any event, whether leisure, sports or motorsports remains fluid as a cure for COVID-19 is yet to be found and it can take up to a year to develop a vaccine, even after skipping animal trials and jumping straight to human trials. Depending on the situation, expect a very busy second half of 2020 or even motorsport calendars that start late in 2020 and spill into 2021.

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