The organisers of F1 British GP are open to a change of date if required as reports of Prime Minister Boris Johnson has surfaced to keep it on original July date.
Four months ago, there was no question that the British GP would go ahead in July. As the COVID-19 situation evolved, though, and the F1 calendar start date got pushed back, it became an increasingly fair question to ask.
Then, once F1 solidified Austria as the optimistic season-opening round, it started to look up for the race, which is run annually at Silverstone. It didn’t take long, though, for new government restrictions to cast a shadow over the certainty of the race’s running.
For now, everyone coming in from outside UK has to undergo 14-day quarantine with no exceptions for sport including F1. The sport is trying to get an exemption while Silverstone is on the other hand open to a date if required to host the two rounds.
“All of these things are relevant for F1 because we have to start going through some degree of change that we need to work towards what a solution for Formula 1 will look like. I’m encouraged there’s progress in the right direction,” said Stuart Pringle to Sky Sports.
“I’ve got flexibility in the calendar and of course we’ve got the original dates we’ve been holding and talking around in mid-late July. But we’ve got a degree of flexibility through August as well to host British GP. So I don’t think that finding a date for F1 is going to be a problem, or indeed two dates.
“What we need is the green light from the government and that will take time. F1, as a championship, needs that exemption and needs to understand where it is, because they’ve got to plan. It’s a huge logistical operation. They’ve got to knit together a series of dates and get a freight plan that works and know that the impact on the personnel is.
“That requires some clarity. There is cause for optimism that if we were to go further to the right in the calendar then it might make things easier, but they need to know sooner or later that seven-tenths of the teams can come back and forth to their base between races or a couple of races.
“For Silverstone, if we move into August that might give a little more certainty for British GP but, actually, I think it’s probably essential that there’s clarity on the quarantine situation in advance of that,” summed up Pringle.
Additionally, The Times reported that UK PM Johnson has intervened in the situation and asked his ministers to review the quarantine rules, where there could be certain relaxation where F1 will be helped to retain its original July-August date as opposed to full August.
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The story was edited by Darshan Chokhani