Send that friend's wife to Dr. Phil: He had a good show about how the lockdown increases depression in people and how depression eventually leads to physical decline in the body, which ultimately cuts down on years of life expectancy. While probably hard to proof the cause and effect relationship we will see increased mortality rates down the road. The lockdown itself costs lives in the long run. And that's not even counting all the suicides of people who lost everything through the economic fallout of an extended lockdown period.
COVID-19: UNCERTAINTIES ABOUND FOR AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX https://www.grandprix247.com/2020/04/19/covid-19-uncertainties-abound-for-azerbaijan-grand-prix/ The postponed Azerbaijan Grand Prix is in a race against the clock to confirm its spot on the 2020 Formula 1 calendar, according to Baku City Circuit executive director Arif Rahimov. Unable to be held in its original June 7 calendar-spot due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rahimov has now revealed the difficulties that might preclude the event being rescheduled. “In our case, it is still uncertain whether or not we will be able to host the event,” he told Forbes. “We would need at least a 10 to 12 week lead time to be able to prepare for the race that has to be run before the weather becomes unpleasant (mid-October).” As a result, Baku would need to know by mid-August at the latest whether F1 can go ahead — although it is a decision that depends as much on the situation in other countries as it does Azerbaijan, which has had only 1,398 confirmed cases. Other European countries with a grand prix, and particularly the three countries where F1 teams are based — the UK, Italy and Switzerland — would all need to have made significant progress in combating the disease if Rahimov is to invest not just the time, but the approximately $30 million needed to turn the historic Baku streets into an F1 circuit. “We have generally had an agreement with F1 that we will only confirm our date in the calendar once the threat of another cancellation is past,” he said. “If we can satisfy those conditions, I believe we can host another great race with no significant negative impact on the ticket sales.”
This. Lockdowns saved lives in the past. See 1918 pandemic. More testing and distancing. In the long run better for all. Fully agree with your post. Dr Phil had to retract recent statements. He admitted he was no epidemiologist as well. Simple answers for complex problems are never a good idea. The virus will not be gone tomorrow. I wish it was...............
Dutch GP suffers fresh setback as Holland extends events ban http://www.gptoday.com/full_story/view/716192/Dutch_GP_suffers_fresh_setback_as_Holland_extends_events_ban/ F1’s hopes of staging the Dutch Grand Prix during the European summertime have suffered another setback after Holland extended its ban on public events. Formula 1’s hopes of staging the Dutch Grand Prix during the European summertime have suffered another setback after Holland extended a ban on public events until September 1. Zandvoort’s return to the F1 calendar for the first time since 1985 was originally scheduled for May 3 but the race was postponed because of the ongoing coronavirus crisis. Dutch GP organisers and F1 had hoped to rearrange the event for a slot in the summer months after teams agreed to bring forward the mandatory shutdown period to the spring to free up the traditional August break to potentially hold affected rounds. But after rules aimed at helping to ease the spread of COVID-19 in the Netherlands were increased by the country’s prime minister Mark Rutte on Tuesday, the Dutch Grand Prix’s return was thrown into further doubt. Under the extended measures, all major public events, including professional sports and music festivals, are prohibited until September 1. "It's better to be cautious now than to have regrets later," Rutte said during a press conference.
Talked to F1 ticketing today. They will refund my $ for the Dutch GP paddock. They were very helpful. I wish I could say the same about the airline tickets... That said, I chatted with them about Spielberg and they are fairly optimistic this will happen. After all just today their Prime Minister announced that they will open in general come May 1st and restaurants/bars by 5/15. In addition they will open borders to Germany and Czech. I wish the governors in the US would be as bold. But I digress. At any rate chances are increasing we will see the overly long awaited season opener in Zeltweg. Zandvoort is likely not gonna happen this year, but there are other places on Earth where it can and will happen. Without audience, but so what!
BTW: Tomorrow the poll is closing, will be interesting to see the Fchat predictions and compare them to the real season.
https://www.planetf1.com/news/alphatauri-team-member-limit/ Franz Tost believes AlphaTauri could limit their numbers to “60 to 65” people, including mechanics, to run the team on a grand prix weekend. Formula 1 is, holding thumbs, eyeing a July start to the 2020 season with Austria’s Red Bull Ring first up. The government has said it “won’t stand in the way” of a behind-closed-doors grand prix but that the numbers have to be limited. When Formula 1 arrived in Melbourne, the paddock was 2,000 strong.
No thanks. I only bet when I am confident of the outcome. To be clear,... I didn't say the window for racing was closed,... just that the window is getting smaller rapidly. Austria does seem possible,... but will F1 race in Austria if they don't have races line up beyond that? If a home country for a team has a travel ban, will they allow a team to leave? If they leave,... can they return? If they can't return,... will the team be willing to be traveling orphans? I'm still concerned about the economics for the track owner / promotor in a setting where they can't sell tickets. Has F1 offered cash to make them whole?
I think once they pull of Spielberg the dam will break and other race promoters will fall in line. I think the same will happen to countries and their travel restrictions. Every country needs tourism $ and keeping the borders closed won't allow this.
'Scuse me, I know not what the phrase "holding thumbs" means. Is that like crossed fingers for luck? Or, like thumbs up as tho' it has a good shot at happening?...... edit: Google to my rescue. My only other question is, how do you do that? I can only see holding one thumb at a time with the opposite hand.........Keep switching thumbs, mayhaps?
Not that I would know any details but since it is their (RB) own track, I'm sure they are the promoter. Which of course (as some have said on here) makes this a bit of a special deal. But hey, why not? It just might get the ball rolling: Once this race (or races as there is talk of 2 GPs held here) is in, politicians and race organizers might realize that this is doable and open up their countries and tracks for their GP. Regardless what happens this season is one for the history books and not too many races will be run. So any GP which makes it into this season is a historic event in its own right. It basically elevates the status of each GP, which actually takes place. Think about it: Sochi/Putin can rightfully claim that their race happened in a year when there was no Monaco GP. Take that Prince Albert!
I suspect RedBull is the promotor as well,... I don't think it is safe to assume that since RedBull is willing to hold a race with no fans that any other promotor will.
OK, the votes are in, the FChatters have spoken. So here are the races you think will take place (in descending likelihood/number of votes): Suzuka Austin Abu Dhabi Spa Sao Paulo Silverstone Mexico Monza While not exactly my choices (I also think Russia, Bahrain and China have a realistic chance) for the most part I would agree with that since these are the races late in the season. Monza IMHO might be wishful thinking (it is FChat after all) and Spa is unlikely to happen. Interestingly Austria is missing from this list while currently it looks like the most realistic race of the calendar. Stay tuned as this story continues to develop.
What if Red Bull decides to sponsor the entire season? Wouldn't that be something? "F1 2020 brought to you exclusively by Red Bull. And Wuhan."
