Formula 1 and the Covid-19 Pandemic

Formula 1 is back after being shutdown for more than 100 days due to the pandemic, let's see what that means for the sport in rest of 2020 and coming years.

It was 13th of March 2020, Australian Grand Prix, the season opener for Formula 1’s 2020 season. After weeks of planning and testing the new cars, teams were ready to start the first practice session of the season on a Friday morning. Fans were outside the gates with their tickets to see the new cars for the first time with their own eyes. And then the news broke out, one of the team members from McLaren Racing Team had tested positive for Covid-19 and decision was taken that the race should not go ahead. The cases soon increased all over the world and other races were cancelled too. Now more than 200 days after last Grand Prix Formula 1 returns in Austria.

A lot has changed since March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. A gap that big and team workshops being shut for a couple months, means changes had to be made. First of it was to the 2020 calendar and then came quite a few regulation changes as well. Motorsports have stricter guidelines in terms of general sporting rules, car specifications and team finances compared to other sports. These rules may be changed or modified on yearly basis. Some rules are planned 2-3 years ahead to cope up with the time and efforts needed for car development. Therefore, this gap due to the pandemic has resulted in drastic changes in the sport. Furthermore, Formula 1’s current governing system is a very complicated one and involves more than just one entity. For a new regulation to be implemented it has to be agreed by FIA - motorsport governing body, F1 Teams and F1 stakeholders Liberty Media.

Source - f1.com

The most evident change is in the 2020 season calendar. Since most of the races in the first half of the season were cancelled and some were postponed, there are 8 races planned in the new calendar as of now. These rases include classic circuits Silverstone, Spa and Monza. The races for now will be held European countries to make it easier for teams to travel to each country during restrictions due to the pandemic. Some other host circuits are also being considered such as Imola and Mugello which have not held a Grand Prix in years and China, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi which were on the original 2020 calendar. By the time you are reading this they might be added to the calendar. Vietnam and Zandvoort were supposed to the new additions to the original 2020 calendar however, due to the pandemic it is not viable for the organisers to bear the costs of hosting the Grand Prix. Unlike other sports each race is hosted by the organisers belonging to the specific circuit. Profit earned from each race through sponsorships, gate revenue and broadcasting are shared by the Grand Prix organisers, F1 Teams and stakeholders Liberty Media. Therefore, to organise a Grand Prix weekend without any gate revenue while bearing all operating costs might not be viable for every circuit. Furthermore, F1 calendar also includes street circuits such as Monaco, Singapore, Baku and Australia; meaning normal city streets are converted into a Formula 1 circuit for the weekend. Organising these races needs thorough planning and cooperation with the local government. Therefore, having these Grands Prix on a later date is quite difficult. 

A busy all year-round calendar means F1 drivers are used to travelling all around the world with only a couple of months off in a year. Shutdown period and staying at home for months therefore must have been kind of a new experience for them. One might not see it on the screen but being a Formula 1 driver, it takes a lot of strain on your cardiovascular system. F1 cars can reach upto 6 G’s and 350 Km/hour during a race. So, the drivers have to be in perfect conditions to face these physical strains. Drivers usually train by long distance running and cycling for cardio, plus personal trainers for other activities. Hence, it must have been particularly difficult keeping fit during shutdown. The world of E-Sports however, has seen a very interesting development during these times. Drivers were not able to do what they love, but the emergence Virtual Grands Prix and E-sports allowed them to race each other over internet. Some of the drivers also live streamed themselves playing variety of games from their houses. This gave drivers to connect with the fans like never before and also gave the fans a chance to see how the F1 drivers live their daily life. When you think about, driving the car is only one part of the job for a F1 driver. Along with driving they also have to do testing, team building and brand management. So, all of that was still somewhat doable during the shutdown with virtual races and other online platforms.    

Source - f1.com

The current economic climate has put some F1 teams in serious financial trouble. Mclaren Racing is reportedly secured a loan of £150m and were also open to selling part of the company to remain in the sport (F12020). Mclaren have also announced they will make 1200 of the employees redundant across their technology, automotive and racing businesses. Williams Racing lost their title sponsors ROKiT and are trying to get new investors. Bigger teams like Scuderia Ferrari on the other hand, are considering expanding to Indy Car Racing so that their current employees do not have to lose their jobs because of the slump.

Due to the economic difficulties there have been radical changes of some rules in the current season and next seasons as well. There are few key changes in the rules, most important and logical change being introduction of cost caps. In the current format there is are no caps on how much teams can spend on the development of the car, teams like Ferrari and Mercedes spend around $400m each year but on the other hand Williams can spend only $145m each year (Race Fans 2020). To make the playing field more level, cost caps of $145m in 2021, $140m in 2022 and $135m in 2023 have been introduced. Although there are some exceptions to this cap such as salaries, travel and carrying over of part, the sliding scale will allow teams to restructure their operations. The sliding scale also comes in towards aerodynamic development. Lower placed teams will be allowed more time in the wind tunnel compared to higher placed teams. There were supposed to be major changes to the cars in 2021 but since the pandemic those changes have been pushed back till 2022. Instead to avoid unnecessary cost, regulations will largely be frozen between 2020 and 2021 meaning key components like chassis, combustion engines and suspension will stay the same but floor, wings and sidepods can be developed (F1 2020). Teams will also have specific sets of tyres available for race and developement of tyres will also be frozen till 2021.

The sport of Formula 1 has been immensely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, major changes can be seen in the regulation and cost restriction. However, the pandemic also gave the fans a chance to connect with the drivers like never before. So interesting times lay ahead for F1 and hopefully new regulations would also make the sport more exciting. There was also one very proud moment for everyone involved in F1 and also the fans, when F1 teams announced ‘Project Pitlane’(F1 2020). F1 teams used their resources and capabilities in rapid design, manufacturing and assembling of ventilators in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The designs of ventilators are also being made open source to make it easier to access them. Therefore, teams based in the UK and in Italy showed F1’s unique ability of rapidly responding to engineering and technological challenges.