Formula 1 - 2020 Season

Coronavirus in F1: Red Bull's Helmut Marko told team's drivers to become infected
The 76-year-old said he had the idea to bring his Formula 1 drivers and juniors together in a camp, which "would be the ideal time for the infection to come".

"They are all strong young men in good health. That way they would be prepared whenever the action starts," he said.

The rest of Red Bull management were against the idea, which was abandoned.
...
And he said that Red Bull was contributing to the wider effort among UK-based F1 teams to produce ventilators to increase capacity in the NHS.

"Production has already started here, we are producing ventilators," he said. "This is the big plus of Formula 1, that you can react to the greatest technological challenges in the shortest possible time and also have the necessary speed in production.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/52091905
 
Coronavirus: Mercedes F1 to make breathing aid
A breathing aid that can help keep coronavirus patients out of intensive care has been created in under a week.
University College London engineers worked with clinicians at UCLH and Mercedes Formula One to build the device, which delivers oxygen to the lungs without needing a ventilator.

Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) devices are already used in hospitals but are in short supply.

China and Italy used them to help Covid-19 patients.

Forty of the new devices have been delivered to ULCH and to three other London hospitals. If trials go well, up to 1,000 of the CPAP machines can be produced per day by Mercedes-AMG-HPP, beginning in a week's time.
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-52087002
 
Coronavirus: Mercedes F1 to make breathing aid

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-52087002
IIRC it was reported last week that all the british F1 teams have been checking if their expertise and manufacturing could be used to fight COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2, but I don't think this is the right thread for those (which is why I quoted you in the corona-thread on this to comment on what they're doing)

Coronavirus in F1: Red Bull's Helmut Marko told team's drivers to become infected

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/52091905

There is some logic to this, but I wouldn't risk it. But again, don't think this is the right thread for these even when they're F1 related
 
Zak Brown: McLaren boss says F1 needs big changes to survive
Cost-saving plans will be discussed at a meeting of F1 bosses on Monday.

F1 and the teams have already agreed a series of changes to lower costs because the sport faces a significant drop in revenues as a result of the cancellation of races.

Brown says all teams have now agreed to lower the budget cap to $150m (£122m) in 2021 but he believes it has to come down further.

"You have everyone at $150m, and the strong majority - including one of the big teams - willing to come substantially under $150m," he said.

Brown would not name teams, but BBC Sport understands the big team accepting of a lower cap are Mercedes, while Ferrari and Red Bull are resistant.

Brown has proposed a limit of $100m (£81.5m) and would be prepared to compromise on $125m (£102m).

He believes that a lower cost cap - with the same exemptions as now, such as driver salaries - would serve to make the field more competitive by reducing the financial advantage of the big teams and give the smaller teams a better chance of achieving good results.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/52175140
 
Canada cancelled postponed. Ross Brawn says they could fit in 18-19 races if they restart by July—8 races for a minimum championship season if they start in October—with a possibility of stretching into January or February. Street circuits are basically impossible to reschedule (presumably why Canada was cancelled and not postponed), so Singapore either happens when it should or it doesn’t. Brown and Brawn pushing for $125M cost cap. Sky’s reporter says Ron Dennis’ kitchen looks like the McLaren Technology Centre.

(latest Sky F1 Vodcast w Ross Brawn, Zak Brown, Martin Brundle)
 
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The latest proposed schedule: “F1 is trying to work out how it can start the season and plans centre on two races in Austria on consecutive weekends at the start of July followed by two at Silverstone, then a handful more European races before heading off around the world.”

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/52401894
 
Not sure about multiple races on the same track. Plenty of circuits in Europe they can race on. Wouldn't it make more sense to do as many European races as well? Seems like it would be easier to keep everybody away from each other racing on the continent opposed to flying everyone around the world.
 
I imagine the reason for having multiple races at the same track could be covid-19 related. They may want test "new" safety precautions related to travel, pre-race, during and after race.
The teams and F1 support crews will have to adhere to a different on-off track protocol once they start racing around the world.
 
It’s probably down to each country’s willingness to host traveling circuses large international groups. I think Austria is one of the first to reopen and it’s already on the calendar, so it may be the easiest for F1 to plan for. Most of the teams are based in the UK, so that simplifies travel for Silverstone. This gives F1 a month to prove to other countries that they can host an event like this responsibly. F1 probably also need a guarantee that they will race without a surprise cancellation, given the four to five week lead time teams say they need to get ready.

Edit: Latest from BBC on upcoming F1 schedule (first four races still expected to be Austria and Silverstone, each doubled, with F1 renting the tracks as opposed to charging them): https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/52435988
 
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https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/52500592

Hungary has a ban on 500+ person gatherings until August 15th, so the race organizers say they’ll hold it behind closed doors (with 500+ ppl allowed as it would be classified as a “broadcast operation not an event” :shrug:). “And the date they are working on with F1 is after the current restrictions end [on August 15th].”

Arnold, maybe more surprising is that Vettel showed up for a race, albeit in the “Legends” category rather than with current drivers. Not everyday you hear an announcer say that Vettel passed Fittipaldi on track.
 
Yes, but when you have last time seen a Schumacher in a Formula One Grand Prix?

PS: I started to watch the race on YouTube, later I switched to Sky DE (SkyQ app on Apple TV4K) and it looked much better.
 
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Yes, but when you have last time seen a Schumacher in a Formula One Grand Prix?

PS: I started to watch the race on YouTube, later I switched to Sky DE (SkyQ app on Apple TV4K) and it looked much better.
Did you manually set the best quality on YouTube? At least at some point they reduced the default quality "because corona hogs the internet" bs
 
Did you manually set the best quality on YouTube? At least at some point they reduced the default quality "because corona hogs the internet" bs
Yes, I did, but it didn't help. I think, that internet provider also try to prevent clients from using YouTube at home (Vodafone Germany, cable).

Leclers plays Euro Truck Simulator:
 
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