Bahrain Grand Prix organisers have confirmed that the Formula 1 event from 20-22 March 2020 will be held behind closed doors because of the coronavirus outbreak.
While the Chinese GP in April was postponed, the Bahrain race, the second on the 2020 F1 calendar, will be open for participants only and will be televised.
In a statement published on Facebook, Bahrain GP officials said: “In consultation with our international partners and the Kingdom’s national health Taskforce, Bahrain has made the decision to hold this year’s Bahrain Grand Prix as a participants-only event.
“As an F1 host nation, balancing the welfare of supporters and race goers is a tremendous responsibility. Given the continued spread of Covid-19 globally, convening a major sporting event, which is open to the public and allows thousands of international travellers and local fans to interact in close proximity would not be the right thing to do at the present time.
“But to ensure that neither the sport, nor its global supporter base, is unduly impacted, the race weekend itself will still go ahead as a televised event.
“Bahrain’s own early actions to prevent, identify and isolate cases of individuals with Covid-19 has been extremely successful to date. The approach has involved rapid, proactive measures, identifying those affected by the virus, of which the overwhelming majority of cases relate to those travelling into the country by air.
“Aggressive social distancing measures have further increased the effectiveness of preventing the virus’ spread, something that would clearly be near impossible to maintain were the race to have proceeded as originally planned.
“We know how disappointed many will be by this news, especially for those planning to travel to the event, which has become a cornerstone event of the international F1 calendar, but safety has to remain our utmost priority.”
The 2020 F1 season starts in Melbourne with the Australian Grand Prix from 13-15 March.
Image: Formula 1/Twitter
Further reading
2020 sports calendar: UK and global major sporting events and ticket details
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