Albon: No one will be 100% ready for Melbourne, but we’ll be close

11 comments on “Albon: No one will be 100% ready for Melbourne, but we’ll be close”

1. 

   Phylyp (@phylyp)
   28th February 2020, 0:12

   Never experienced anything like this, the #Corona virus is a big thing here in Bahrain. Had to wait 4 hours after we landed, and most Italian’s flights are cancelled

   If people are specifically concerned about flights/people arriving from Italy, that’s not just a concern for specific GPs, that’s also a concern about the presence of two F1 teams, and – more importantly – their tyre supplier.
   1. 

      ColdFly (@)
      28th February 2020, 7:28

      It smells a bit like double standards, @phylyp.
      The GP in Shanghai was delayed, and most flights cancelled, but there’ve been ‘only’ been 337 cases with 3 death and 85% recovered.
      In (Northern) Italy there are so far 655 cases with 16 death and more than 90% still active.

      Don’t get me wrong; I propose to continue with work and sports. Just follow the instructions from your national health service, especially around personal hygiene and how to interact with others who have some symptoms.
      1. 

         Phylyp (@phylyp)
         28th February 2020, 7:38

         @coldfly – oh, I’m not wading into the debate of whether the response is disproportionate or not, just pointing out that it’s not just venues that are at risk from cancellation, it is the attendance of teams/suppliers also at risk. There’s a lot more being spoken about “X” GP at risk or being cancelled, and not so much about Pirelli’s attendance (for instance) being at risk.

         especially around personal hygiene and how to interact with others

         You’re preaching to the choir – it doesn’t need an illness to make me cautious! Seeing the journey that some people make in restrooms from the stall to the door (bypassing the sink) has made me wholeheartedly embrace my country’s Namaste as a greeting in preference to a handshake. Between that and other common sense precautions we should be fine as of now. :)
2. 

   @HoHum (@hohum)
   28th February 2020, 0:12

   Great COTD, and even earlier on, for brits, they could for a lot less money see the big stars like Jim Clark racing in sedan and sports cars between GPs.
3. 

   Phylyp (@phylyp)
   28th February 2020, 0:32

   Ricciardo’s piece in Esquire is interesting – I expected a total fluff-piece article, but it was actually an interesting read and look at him. It was interesting to see his stated goal of going to Renault, and the interesting anecdote about “jovial incompatibility” with Kimi.
4. 

   Phylyp (@phylyp)
   28th February 2020, 4:35

   Interesting that this didn’t make the round-up:

   F1 team bosses meet in Barcelona over coronavirus

   The Formula One teams are planning a meeting in Barcelona tonight [i.e. the night of the 27th] in which all team bosses are present, GPToday.net can report. The teams are very concerned about their itineraries and also how staff should fly to the races, what happens if someone in the paddock is infected with the coronavirus and how to resolve the situation if, for example, a hotel is quarantined with Team members.
   1. 

      Kasim
      28th February 2020, 10:15

      Just the other day, in the Alpha Tauri article, it was said that pirelli have not put in place any restrictions on its motorsport operations. Yet they are based in Milan, which is in the heart of northern Italy…
      1. 

         Phylyp (@phylyp)
         28th February 2020, 10:20

         I think one of their manufacturing plants for F1 tyres is in Turkey, so they might have geographical redundancy to some extent. It might not help matters for the design team and key support personnel who are likely based out of Italy, though, as you rightly mention.
   2. 

      Jere (@jerejj)
      28th February 2020, 14:44

      @phylyp Thanks for the link. Interesting stuff and times ahead. I, of course, hope that this upcoming season wouldn’t become what’d be essentially a corona-championship. A month ago, back when this corona virus-thing first properly started getting attention, I didn’t expect it would/could have a real impact on the championship, but now, it seems more severe in that regard.
      1. 

         Phylyp (@phylyp)
         28th February 2020, 14:57

         A month ago, back when this corona virus-thing first properly started getting attention, I didn’t expect it would/could have a real impact on the championship, but now, it seems more severe in that regard.

         @jerejj – I share that exact sentiment. I was initially of the mindset “Hmm, there goes the Chinese GP. Yay?” And now I look nervously at the fate of some of the European and other Asian rounds as well.
5. 

   Unicron (@unicron2002)
   28th February 2020, 10:39

   I agree with COTD, testing is/was a great way of fans getting to see their favourite cars and drivers for next to no money. The last time I was lucky enough to attend a test was 2013 at Silverstone (I live about 45 minutes away) on a scorching hot July day in the middle of the week. Great day.

   I also saw the pre-season Silverstone test in 2001 (the orange Arrows and day-glo ‘shark’ Jordans were there), and then there was another scorching hot July day in 2000. I have a great photo I took of Ralf Schumacher’s georgeous BMW-Williams with glowing brake-discs heading into Copse. It was also the day of Dario Franchitti’s infamous Jaguar test – also a beautiful car.

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