McLaren out of Australian GP a

Image via @McLarenF1

McLaren out of Australian GP after positive Covid-19 test

Pressure is mounting on F1 to cancel the Australian GP after McLaren withdrew from the race weekend following a positive test for the coronavirus for one staff member.

McLaren out of Australian GP a

Image via @McLarenF1

McLaren has pulled out of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix after one team member tested positive for the coronavirus.

The remaining nine teams could still race.

McLaren withdraw from Australian GP

The coronavirus claimed its first victim in the Formula 1 paddock with a McLaren staff member testing positive for the flu-like virus.

The unnamed team member spiked a fever after landing in Melbourne earlier this week and was immediately tested before self-isolating.

Unfortunately McLaren has announced the test has come back positive.

As such the team has withdrawn from the season-opening grand prix, citing a “duty of care” towards everyone in the F1 circus.

“McLaren Racing has confirmed this evening in Melbourne that it has withdrawn from the 2020 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, following the positive test of a team member for the coronavirus,” read the statement.

“The team member was tested and self-isolated as soon as they started to show symptoms and will now be treated by local healthcare authorities.

“The team has prepared for this eventuality and has ongoing support in place for its employee who will now enter a period of quarantine. The team is cooperating with the relevant local authorities to assist their investigations and analysis.

“Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing, and Andreas Seidl, team principal of McLaren F1, informed Formula 1 and the FIA of the decision this evening.

“The decision has been taken based on a duty of care not only to McLaren F1 employees and partners, but also to the team’s competitors, Formula 1 fans and wider F1 stakeholders.”

Four Haas personnel cleared

There was some good news further down the pit lane as Haas confirmed that all four of its team members who were tested for the Coronavirus returned negative results.

Two of the Haas team members went into self-isolation at the same time as the McLaren person with another two showing symptoms a day later.

Thankfully all four are clear.

Haas has yet to confirm the good news as Formula 1 is now debating whether to cancel the grand prix.

Vettel warns of driver strike

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel has warned Formula 1 bosses that the drivers could strike if they don’t feel they are being looked after.

Many of the drivers, including six-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton, have expressed concerns about racing in the current climate.

Now with a positive test in the paddock, Vettel says a strike could be on the cards.

“I hope others would agree, and we hope it doesn’t get that far, but if it were to get that far then for sure you pull the handbrake,” he said.

“I think we are a group of twenty guys and I think we’ve got together over the last years for various circumstances on various topics, and I think we share common opinion on big decisions and that.

“I would qualify it is a very, very big decision and ultimately, as I said before, you look at yourself. And we would, I think, be mature enough to look after ourselves and pull the handbrake in that case.”

It wouldn’t be F1’s first driver strike with the lads downing gloves at the 1982 South African when the Federation Internationale du Sport Automobile imposed a bunch of new rules the drivers didn’t like.

One of those being that they could not negotiate contracts with rival teams. The drivers locked themselves in a hotel room until the FISA caved. Alain Prost won the grand prix.

Victoria health officers pre-warning

Earlier this week chief health officer for the sate of Victoria, Brett Sutton, said he believed the race would be called off if someone in the paddock delivered a positive test.

That has now happened with contrasting reports about whether F1 is going ahead with the race or not.

Sky Sports claims the remaining nine teams agreed to race without McLaren but the BBC says the decision has been made to cancel the race.

Sutton told 3AW: “I think for these crew members, if they turn up positive, we need to consider what it means for their close contacts and if they have a number of close contacts across a number of crews, then those individuals need to be quarantined.

“If that effectively shuts down the race, then so be it, we’ll make that call.

“It’ll depend on those tests. If they are all negative, if everyone else who’s got symptoms is negative and hasn’t exposed other crew, then I say that they can carry on.

“But if there are positive crew and they’ve exposed a number of others, then all of those contacts need to be in quarantine. So it’ll be a question of whether the teams have the operational staff to continue.”