By keeping eachteam in a cluster andnot
sharing any facilities, such astoilets, betwee n
clusters, any infection can beisolated. Itwill also
ensurenocontact with the local community.
In prin ciple it is the same asthe guidance and
regulationsissu ed by many governments which
reference ‘membersof the same household’. That
family unitcan be thought of asa mini-cluster,
which can work, live and travel together but should
avoid interactionswith other clusters.
We canexpect to see several changes whenwe
return to racing,be it crew members wearing PPE
or newgrid procedures,but what is seen will be
only thetip of the icebergof effortthat hasgone on
behind thescenes to bring F1 back.The situation
continues toevolve and so will the procedures, and
even the calendar, butthere is no reasonto beli eve
that even if the championship is shortened it will
be any lessenthralling– in fact there are many
reasons to believeit may be more exciting, which is
great news forsports fans aroundthe world.strategy can bemaintained. A cluster strategy is
a mitigation procedure whichaccepts thatwith in
certain groups it is notpractical tofollow all core
virus transmission mitigation measures. A pitstop
crew needs to bein pr oximityto do its job, as do
the mechanics inthe garage or the engineers and
drivers in thedebrief rooms.amount of freight ordinarily, has caused a severe shortagein
worldwideairf reight capacity. This in turn has drivencosts up
eno rmously.The cost of chartering a747 freighterhas ris en fro m
around USD $200,000 to over $1m.
In order to implement the many special measuresrequired for
the return to racing, each eventwill have a
command andcontrolcentre. This will act
as the hubfor ensuring that all procedures
are carriedout correctly and that, in the
event of aninc ident, adequate corrective and
mitigation procedures are implemented.For
example,the el ectr onic passes whichgrant
access to the paddock will be automatically
cancelled everyeven ing andwill only be
re-activated on receiptof a declaration from
each team that all their members havegiven
a negative test within the last 48 hours and
are not exhibiting symptoms of any sort.
The testing itself will take place both at
the team s’premises beforeleavingfor an
event andalso at the event, with abesp oke
service giving a turnaroundof results
within hours. Any positive test will result
in the removal of the infected person to an
isolation unit wheretheir condition can
be assessed anda self-isolation procedure
can start. In thisway, a bubble orclusterWHAT IS SEEN WILL BE ONLY THE TIPOF THE
ICEBERG OF EFFORT THAT HAS GONE ON BEHIND
THE SCENESTO BRING F1 BACK
Testingfor COVID-19 willbe a hu ge part of
F1’s returnto the track, and allowa ‘cluster’
or ‘bubble’ strategy to be maintainedThe cancelling
of electronic
paddockpasses
everynight is
just one of many
special measures
that will be
introducedfor
the returnto
racing26 GP RACING JULY 2020
INSIDER
UNDER THE HOODBy keeping eachteam in a cluster andnot
sharing any facilities, such astoilets, betwee n
clusters, any infection can beisolated. Itwill also
ensurenocontact with the local community.
In prin ciple it is the same asthe guidance and
regulationsissu ed by many governments which
reference ‘membersof the same household’. That
family unitcan be thought of asa mini-cluster,
which can work, live and travel together but should
avoid interactionswith other clusters.
We canexpect to see several changes whenwe
return to racing,be it crew members wearing PPE
or newgrid procedures,but what is seen will be
only thetip of the icebergof effortthat hasgone on
behind thescenes to bring F1 back.The situation
continues toevolve and so will the procedures, and
even the calendar, butthere is no reasonto beli eve
that even if the championship is shortened it will
be any lessenthralling– in fact there are many
reasons to believeit may be more exciting, which is
great news forsports fans aroundthe world.strategy can bemaintained. A cluster strategy is
a mitigation procedure whichaccepts thatwith in
certain groups it is notpractical tofollow all core
virus transmission mitigation measures. A pitstop
crew needs to bein pr oximityto do its job, as do
the mechanics inthe garage or the engineers and
drivers in thedebrief rooms.amount of freight ordinarily, has caused a severe shortagein
worldwideairf reight capacity. This in turn has drivencosts up
eno rmously.The cost of chartering a747 freighterhas ris en fro m
around USD $200,000 to over $1m.
In order to implement the many special measuresrequired for
the return to racing, each eventwill have a
command andcontrolcentre. This will act
as the hubfor ensuring that all procedures
are carriedout correctly and that, in the
event of aninc ident, adequate corrective and
mitigation procedures are implemented.For
example,the el ectr onic passes whichgrant
access to the paddock will be automatically
cancelled everyeven ing andwill only be
re-activated on receiptof a declaration from
each team that all their members havegiven
a negative test within the last 48 hours and
are not exhibiting symptoms of any sort.
The testing itself will take place both at
the team s’premises beforeleavingfor an
event andalso at the event, with abesp oke
service giving a turnaroundof results
within hours. Any positive test will result
in the removal of the infected person to an
isolation unit wheretheir condition can
be assessed anda self-isolation procedure
can start. In thisway, a bubble orclusterWHAT IS SEEN WILL BE ONLY THE TIPOF THE
ICEBERG OF EFFORT THAT HAS GONE ON BEHIND
THE SCENESTO BRING F1 BACK
Testingfor COVID-19 willbe a hu ge part of
F1’s returnto the track, and allowa ‘cluster’
or ‘bubble’ strategy to be maintainedThe cancelling
of electronic
paddockpasses
everynight is
just one of many
special measures
that will be
introducedfor
the returnto
racing26 GP RACING JULY 2020
INSIDER
UNDER THE HOOD