Paul Jeffrey
Premium
In further COVID-19 motorsport disruption, the FIA have confirmed Formula One will be postponed until at least the Dutch Grand Prix in May, with IndyCar swiftly following suit in their acknowledgement that the start of the American season has been held until at least the end of April.
Just yesterday the Formula One organisation put a stop to the season opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, despite all teams and drivers being present at the circuit, and now the governing body of the sport have been quick to react to growing public concern, confirming that both Bahrain and Vietnam will join the already cancelled Chinese Grand Prix on the current Formula One schedule.
With the Coronavirus continuing to spread throughout the world, having recently been upgraded to pandemic status by the World Health Organisation, a number of motorsport series throughout the world have been severely affected by the outbreak, with many either postponing or cancelling events altogether.
Formula One has arguably been slow to react to the outbreak, as can be seen by the rather embarrassing saga in Australia, but at least with today's announcement fans, teams and media have some level of clarity about how this new disease is going to impact upon Grand Prix racing in the immediate future.
Stateside, this weekend was set to mark the opening race meeting of the 2020 NTT IndyCar Series at St. Petersburg, however in a situation similar to Formula One, the organising body of IndyCar first declared the race would be held behind closed doors, before finally confirming the event has been cancelled - along with any IndyCar action through to the end of April at the very earliest.
In Formula E, recent announcements confirmed that 2019/20 season has gone into a state of suspense while further developments around the COVID-19 situation are known, following a spate of race cancellations / delays in recent weeks. No further details as to when Formula E plan to resume racing activities are yet known.
The FIA WTCR series have already confirmed the opening round of the season in Hungary has been cancelled, with further calendar changes expected to follow, however promoter Eurosport Events hope to create a number of 'double header' race weekends during the season, in order to retain the full 20 race schedule of the 2020 racing season.
Other motorsport series to be impacted by the ongoing Coronavirus situation include MotoGP and World Superbikes, the World Endurance Championship, NASCAR and many different local racing series.
In a slightly more positive tone, the British Touring Car Championship are still stating the coming season will remain unaffected, with the official 'Media Launch Day' due to take place at Silverstone next week, prior to the opening round of the season at Donington Park at the end of the month.
Just yesterday the Formula One organisation put a stop to the season opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, despite all teams and drivers being present at the circuit, and now the governing body of the sport have been quick to react to growing public concern, confirming that both Bahrain and Vietnam will join the already cancelled Chinese Grand Prix on the current Formula One schedule.
With the Coronavirus continuing to spread throughout the world, having recently been upgraded to pandemic status by the World Health Organisation, a number of motorsport series throughout the world have been severely affected by the outbreak, with many either postponing or cancelling events altogether.
Formula One has arguably been slow to react to the outbreak, as can be seen by the rather embarrassing saga in Australia, but at least with today's announcement fans, teams and media have some level of clarity about how this new disease is going to impact upon Grand Prix racing in the immediate future.
Stateside, this weekend was set to mark the opening race meeting of the 2020 NTT IndyCar Series at St. Petersburg, however in a situation similar to Formula One, the organising body of IndyCar first declared the race would be held behind closed doors, before finally confirming the event has been cancelled - along with any IndyCar action through to the end of April at the very earliest.
In Formula E, recent announcements confirmed that 2019/20 season has gone into a state of suspense while further developments around the COVID-19 situation are known, following a spate of race cancellations / delays in recent weeks. No further details as to when Formula E plan to resume racing activities are yet known.
The FIA WTCR series have already confirmed the opening round of the season in Hungary has been cancelled, with further calendar changes expected to follow, however promoter Eurosport Events hope to create a number of 'double header' race weekends during the season, in order to retain the full 20 race schedule of the 2020 racing season.
Other motorsport series to be impacted by the ongoing Coronavirus situation include MotoGP and World Superbikes, the World Endurance Championship, NASCAR and many different local racing series.
In a slightly more positive tone, the British Touring Car Championship are still stating the coming season will remain unaffected, with the official 'Media Launch Day' due to take place at Silverstone next week, prior to the opening round of the season at Donington Park at the end of the month.
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