What next for Formula 1 amid the virus outbreak? F1, the FIA, the teams discussing latest plans on Thursday - including 2021's regulations
Thursday 19 March 2020 15:13, UK
Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto has confirmed that postponing F1's planned 2021 rules overhaul will be on the table when stakeholders talk on Thursday to discuss the sport's latest plans amid the coronavirus pandemic.
A conference call involving team bosses, the FIA and F1 themselves is set to take place with the implications for this season and next - when major technical and financial changes are planned on being introduced - will be discussed.
In an interview with the official F1 website, Binotto said: "We will have a conference call with all the other teams, F1 and FIA to discuss the situation and the impact it has not only on this season but also on the next one.
"We must carefully evaluate every aspect and see if it is not really the case to think about possibly postponing the introduction of the new 2021 technical rules.
"In any case, Ferrari is ready to take responsibility for a choice that must be made in the ultimate interest of this sport, it is certainly not the time for selfishness and tactics."
As part of fast-evolving plans, F1 teams agreed on Wednesday to bring forward the sport's usual summer break to March and April.
Teams must shut down their factories for 21 consecutive days during this period, seven days longer than is normally the case during August.
Ferrari's Maranello HQ had already been shut down due to the situation in Italy and the Scuderia have therefore initiated F1's 21-day period without work with immediate effect.
"There are a lot of restrictions which have been applied to minimise risks of contagion and that is affecting our development capacity. Now everything is obviously pending," said Binotto.
"Before the shutdown, we tried to recalibrate the development programs on the basis of various calendar hypotheses but, obviously, we must wait for the evolution of the spread of coronavirus in the world and its effects on the resumption of activities."
F1's change in regulations frees up the middle of August to potentially slot in races should the season be up and running by then. The only two events scheduled for the month were the Hungarian GP on August 2 and the Belgian GP on August 30.
As it stands, the Dutch GP is the first event on the current schedule yet to be called off but Zandvoort's May 1-3 event also looks highly unlikely to take place. The Spanish, Monaco and Azerbaijan GPs then follow during the course of the next month.
