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F1 drivers may miss part of race weekend if mechanics test positive
- GPblog.com
Formula 1 has several plans to minimize the chance of spreading the coronavirus. One of the plans is to create 'families and sub-families' within the teams. As a result, it is possible that drivers will have to spend part of the weekend if it turns out that a mechanic from their own family has tested positive. Especially the mechanics seem to belong to the risk group on the paddock.
"If we do get a positive case then we can isolate that case and people who have been in contact with that person very quickly," explains Brawn in conversation with the BBC. The sports director of Liberty Media continues his story by saying that it is very difficult to have a group of mechanics working at a distance of one and a half meters from each other. "They will be wearing personal protective equipment, but it's going to be very difficult."
If a mechanic does test positive, he and his group will have to go into isolation. "So if we have somebody test positive in one of the groups, then we would have to isolate that group until they could all be tested. We would have to isolate that group until we could be sure the virus hadn't spread but the rest of the team could still function", the British explains.
Chance of missing race very small
It takes two hours for the results of the tests to become known, which means that in case of bad timing a driver may miss a session. "Yes, it would," Brawn agrees. The chances of missing the race on Sunday are not great, since no work can be done on the cars after qualifying unless they are damaged.