Formula One bosses look set to delay the much-anticpated start of the 2021 season, by postponing the season-opening race in Australia for the second year running.
It is another body-blow to the sport which scrambled to pull off a 17-race season in 2020 by adhering to a bio-secure bubble for all F1 personnel, and made it a success against all odds.
The F1 hierarchy had planned for a back-to-normal 23-race schedule for 2021, with the first race in Melbourne on March 21. But with seven of F1's ten teams being based in the locked-down UK, a growing number of COVID-19 cases worldwide, and Australia implementing strict travel protocols, that plan might have already hit the skids.
In 2020, the Australian GP organisers had to wait until the Friday before the race weekend to pull the plug, after a member of the McLaren team tested positive for COVID the day before, leaving fans who had travelled to the racetrack with nowhere to go. The 2020 season did not manage to start until July at the Austrian Red Bull Ring.
Australia's current travel restrictions would mean that F1 drivers, teams and staff, would be expected to spend up to three weeks in quarantine upon arrival.
If the Albert Park race is delayed, then Bahrain would then become the season-opener on March 28, with F1 now rumoured to considering basing all of their winter testing in the Persian country, according to a report on Autosport.
A spokesperson for F1 told the Sun newspaper: “In 2020 we proved that we could return to racing safely and delivered what many thought was impossible in March. We have set out our 2021 calendar and look forward to the return of F1 in March this year.”
Keyword: F1's 2021 season-opening GP looks to be delayed due to COVID concerns