Zak Brown and Andreas Seidl have updated on the situation with McLaren F1 team members as they tank their rivals for all the help.
McLaren faced an unprecedented situation on Thursday night of the F1 Australian GP when one member tested positive for COVID-19 which forced 14 personnel to isolate themselves as the Woking-based outfit eventually decided to pull out from the grand prix.
Brown said that they only had one choice as they discussed already in a meeting at McLaren base before flying in. The drivers Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris knew the outcome as well. Following the positive test, the whole F1 race was cancelled early on Friday.
Since then, everyone has made it back or are in the process of flying back, apart from the 14 McLaren F1 members, who have been quarantined. Team principal Seidl stayed back for few days but has now flown back, with Andrea Stella choosing to stay put.
With no races until at least May, the F1 teams have decided to self-isolate in their respective places. Updating on the situation at hand, McLaren ‘s Seidl thanked the rival team members for all continued help, whether at the hotel or at the track in dismantling.
“It’s great to see how the entire team stuck together in these difficult hours, helping and supporting each other,” said Seidl in a statement sent to FormulaRapida.net by McLaren, when asked for an update regarding the situation.
“I especially want to thank not only my leadership team, who showed their character and coolness under pressure, but people throughout the McLaren F1 team who focused on their jobs quietly and efficiently and helped make a difficult situation easier to manage.
“I also want to recognise our team members who have had to stay in Melbourne under quarantine at the moment. This is not an easy situation. Special thanks to our racing director Andrea Stella and his guys, who volunteered to stay Down Under for the next 14 days supporting our guys in quarantine.
“When I talk about our McLaren team members, I also want to thank our two great drivers, Carlos and Lando, who have been obviously concerned about their team-mates. We have to keep them physically away from the rest of the team, even though they are both fine, but they are in constant communication.
“We also appreciate our fellow teams in the paddock who offered immediate help on Friday to dismantle the garage and pack the freight, which was obviously a challenge for us missing 14 of our core guys. This is the spirit of F1 and racing we all embrace.
“I stayed in Melbourne for a few days to support the team but I’m back in Europe now to work with Zak and my leadership on planning how we operate in the weeks ahead, but we already decided the travelling race team definitely stays away from factory for two weeks as a precautionary measure.”
At the same time, Brown’s statement talks about how the decision was made as he lauded the team effort of McLaren and the closeness of everyone in F1. “I’m proud of how the whole team, both in Australia and back at base, handled the situation in a moment of real pressure and concern for their colleagues,” he said.
“The focus, calmness and professionalism was outstanding across the team. We had leaders stepping up everywhere and that is testament to our people. We had been continually scenario-planning together with the team back in the UK, so we knew what our options were in the event of various outcomes.
“Andreas and I already agreed that if we had a positive case in the McLaren garage there was only one option. As I said before, as a racer it was the hardest decision I’ve had to take but as CEO it was the easiest. Our people come first and Andreas feels very strongly about this too.
“When the news came through on Thursday evening Andreas and I were at dinner with one of our shareholders. We immediately returned to the team hotel to join our race team leadership and while Andreas focused on leading the team, I focused on our board and shareholders, who were absolutely supportive I must say, while informing the other teams, F1 and the FIA.
“I’m happy to report that our McLaren team member affected with the virus is recovering well and the symptoms have gone and our people in quarantine are in good spirits. The support they have been getting from their team-mates, our partners, members of the F1 community and fans from around the world has been fantastic and our thanks go out to all of them.
“Our focus is now on the dialogue with F1, the FIA and the other teams on working through the 2020 calendar and managing the team over the next few months. It’s early days and this is an evolving situation but we are planning ahead and will stay flexible.”
At this juncture, there is no definite timeline for when the 2020 F1 season will kick-off. As things stand, it is to start with the Dutch GP on May 3-5 but with the new developments, the races in Netherlands, Spain and Monaco could see a postponement too.
If we go by that, Azerbaijan GP on June 5-7 seems like the 2020 F1 opener but we wait for any confirmation. This is certainly shuffle up everything as August break is targeted for re-scheduled grand prix and an extended end, well into December, is also an option.
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Here’s Chase Carey, Ross Brawn on all what transpire and future
Here’s Ferrari halting work at their base
Here’s what F1 teams/drivers said about the recent developments
Here’s F1 calling off the South Africa Fan Festival
Here’s latest on Dutch and Spanish F1 races
Here’s news on F1 postponing Baharain, Vietnam
Here’s news on how F1 Aus GP was cancelled
Here’s news from McLaren pulling out
