Horner on possible season opener in Austria: 'Would be great for the sport'

Published on 31 May 2020 by Julien Lemmen

Christian Horner, team principal of Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, looks ahead to the possible start of the season in Austria and talks about keeping in touch with his drivers during the coronavirus pandemic in his colum for the team’s site

"After what feels like an eternity, the factory will be back up and running next week, with the majority of workers coming back in on Monday. We are very fortunate that we are on a big site in Milton Keynes with lots of space so that we can spread people out and follow strict social distancing guidelines. The health and wellbeing of our staff is of paramount importance to us, so we have taken all the necessary measures so they can come back to a safe environment. Our workforce are our biggest asset and we want to ensure they feel comfortable, they are safe and being looked after."

"There has been a great reaction from Red Bull in Austria and they consider the possibility of hosting the first race as a positive and a way to get F1 going again in the right manner. The safety measures they are looking at, with the testing and isolating of the teams and of course owning the facility, means the event is fully controllable. They have been working hard with Liberty and the local authorities to put a plan in place and it looks like it is coming together, which is great for the sport."

"It would be a television only event with limited trackside personnel but there is still a lot of effort required to make that happen. We will be looking at around 80 people per team, charter flights and trackside teams won't be able to interact and mingle with each other. Different teams will stay in different hotels, there will be social distancing and we will follow all the relevant guidelines, and there will be plenty of testing going on. It is going to be a different type of operation to what we are used to but the sporting directors have been taking their time to go through everything to make sure all the right procedures are in place."

"It would also be fantastic to race at Silverstone this year. We are a British-based team and it is an important race for us and many of the other teams. Geographically it is the most convenient for 70 percent of the field and it is a great track. I would be sad to lose Silverstone this year, but hopefully with the pandemic becoming more under control and the safety measures F1 are taking to ensure personnel and local communities are safe, those two races will be enabled. It would be a great shame for Silverstone to miss out on its 70th anniversary in F1."

"Of course, the lockdown means I have been unable to see both Max and Alex in person but we do stay in touch via WhatsApp and on the phone. Max and Alex have  been in touch with all the staff via video messages and they came on the last live webinar chat that I held with the Team to keep everyone up to date. I am also pleased to say they have been taking part in our online fitness sessions. They are keeping fit but racing drivers are not good at being caged animals. They have both been doing sim races. Max especially, is obsessed with it and has probably done more races than a whole F1 season and Alex has been doing a great job in the virtual GP’s for us."