Franz Tost does not expect corona patients at the first race of the season

F1 News

21 May 2020 at 19:36
  • GPblog.com

In about a month and a half the Formula 1 season is scheduled to start at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. Public will not be there because of the coronavirus and all teams have to do their utmost to work as safe as possible.

The right tests

AlphaTauri team boss Franz Tost states in an interview with F1.com that his team has found a correct COVID-19 test, where they know almost immediately if someone on the staff has the virus.

"I think we have now a test which guarantees us valid results", says Tost. "We have a special hall, away from the factory, where we do the tests. We want to make sure no one comes into the factory who could be positive."

"We will continue to do the tests, we are in discussion now as to whether we do it every 10 days or every 14 days. The race team will be tested once more before they travel and when they come to Austria, I think there is another test. If all teams do this procedure, I expect we will have a big chance that no one will test positive for coronavirus", says Tost.

Quick

Tost says that the test that AlphaTauri has at its disposal can show within a few minutes whether you have the virus and whether you have already had the virus. "It is a blood test, with the results divided into two parts. The first result we get after 10 minutes and we will know whether a person is COVID-19 positive or negative."

"For further investigations, they need one day. For example, the test can tell you whether you had already COVID-19 and recovered", Tost concludes.