COVID-19: Ferrari cancel Pirelli test as Bahrain implements restrictions

NewsDesk 1 min read

The COVID-19 continues to play havoc with motorsport around the world, with Formula 1 already forced to cancel the Chinese Grand Prix while decisions pend on a number of other venues and now Ferrari agreeing with Pirelli to postpone tyre tests at Fiorano this week.

The tests using 2021 F1 Pirelli wet tyres were planned to take place, starting 5th March, at the team’s test track in Maranello, but coronavirus forced a change of plans.

The Scuderia announced on Twitter: “Because of company restriction policies adopted by both Ferrari and Pirelli following the worldwide Coronavirus outbreak, the scheduled 18-inch 2021 wet tyre test at Fiorano on March 5 has to be postponed. The test will be rescheduled at Fiorano at the earliest opportunity.”

Meanwhile, Bahrain is reportedly denying entry into the country for travellers who, in the past two weeks, have visited Italy, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand or South Korea.

This means that staff working for the likes of Ferrari, AlphaTauri, Pirelli as well as many other Italian entities and F1 professionals who work and are based in Italy.

The latest development is also set to play havoc with the sport’s logistics ahead of the new season which is set to kick-off with the first weekend in Melbourne on 13-15 March, followed a week later by the race in Bahrain and two weeks after that the first Vietnamese Grand Prix.

While organisers and F1 remain adamant that the Australian Grand Prix will happen as scheduled, increasingly it is out of anyone’s hands as the virus is expected to spread exponentially in forthcoming days and weeks.

Even an optimistic scenario is bleak and trying to see light at the end of the tunnel, at this stage, is proving to be difficult as the only solution is that COVID-19 disappears overnight (or at least as quick as it ambushed the world) and that is highly unlikely, which leaves a very uncertain future, and not just for F1.