As the FIA and Formula 1 collaborate intensively on comprehensive strategies to reignite the pinnacle of motorsport, an initial focus has been placed on meticulously crafting procedures to mitigate health risks among all personnel. This includes drivers, dedicated team employees, essential officials and marshals, broadcast crews, and vital media representatives. The return to action, initially conceived to operate behind closed gates, necessitates an unprecedented level of health and safety planning to navigate the complexities of a global pandemic.
Given that Formula 1 primarily manages the commercial facets of the sport, the paramount responsibility for safety ultimately rests with the FIA. This esteemed governing body holds the final accountability for all safety and security dimensions within F1 operations. Consequently, the intricate COVID-19 protocols and implementation guidelines fall directly under the expert direction of Professor Gerard Saillant, whose leadership is proving indispensable during these challenging times.
Professor Saillant, aged 75, is globally recognized as one of the preeminent orthopaedic surgeons. His distinguished career includes performing critical surgeries on legendary figures such as Michael Schumacher and Clay Regazzoni, showcasing his profound medical expertise and experience with high-stakes situations. Currently, he serves as the respected President of the FIA Medical Commission and concurrently heads the prestigious (French) Institute of Brain and Spinal Cord. He assumed the leadership of the FIA Institute in 2011, succeeding the equally legendary Professor Sid Watkins, thereby continuing a legacy of prioritizing safety and medical advancements in motorsport.
This week, Professor Saillant graciously provided RaceFans with an exclusive interview, offering invaluable insights into the forthcoming procedures. He detailed how F1 plans to safeguard everyone involved in staging races in a “behind closed doors” format, as the world gradually emerges from the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic. Beyond his direct responsibilities for F1, Saillant’s personal research into the neurological manifestations of the pathogen has led him to compelling conclusions. He postulates that the widely reported loss of taste and smell associated with the illness may indicate “damage that is more important than we can know,” underscoring his belief that “the first priority is to understand the neurological impact.” This scientific curiosity and commitment to understanding the virus at a deeper level significantly inform his approach to F1’s return.
Professor Saillant firmly advocates that the most effective strategy for preventing the widespread transmission of the virus among Formula 1 personnel lies in establishing a voluntary, self-contained “hub” for each individual. This innovative concept involves enforcing a minimum one-meter radius around each person wherever practically feasible. The critical advantage of this system is its traceability: should an individual unfortunately test positive, those within their immediate “hub” would be the initial group to undergo testing. This focused approach allows for a controlled, systematic outward expansion of testing, isolating potential chains of transmission efficiently and precisely.
Explaining the practicality of this system, Saillant elaborated, “So if you are positive three days after arriving [at the circuit], it’s very easy to see on your hub. You’ll see a lot of people [in the paddock during the event], but nobody less than one meter.” He acknowledges that implementing robust social distancing, or physical distancing, presents varying degrees of challenge. “For social distancing, physical distancing in the paddock, it’s easy for any journalist or manager,” he stated, referring to the more open areas. However, he admitted, “But in the garage it’s more difficult, of course, around the body.” The intricate and confined nature of a Formula 1 garage, where mechanics work in close proximity, demands additional safeguards.
Despite these challenges, Saillant expressed confidence in the proposed measures. “But I think with a mask, with a helmet, with special gloves, with washing your hands as soon as possible the risk is very low, it’s never zero but it is very, very low. It’s possible to manage something like that in principle.” This comprehensive approach combining personal protective equipment (PPE) and rigorous hygiene is deemed essential. He further detailed the response protocol for an unfortunate positive case: “I think there’s a problem if we have unfortunately, one body positive. If it’s a [technician] in the garage, we have to check immediately all the people working with him in the garage, we have to check with the new test. If it’s negative, we can continue, maybe to do a new test day after two days after. But I think the goal is to create a kind of clean cluster in each team.” This strategic “clean cluster” concept is central to containing any potential outbreak and ensuring the continuity of the event.
The highly anticipated and heavily postponed 2020 F1 season is now slated to commence at the iconic Red Bull Ring in Austria on July 5th. Professor Saillant’s dedicated team is already engaged in active discussions with the Austrian authorities, meticulously outlining and agreeing upon the necessary health and safety procedures. These detailed negotiations are crucial for ensuring smooth operations and compliance with both international and national health guidelines, setting a precedent for subsequent races.
Professor Saillant elaborated on the multi-layered considerations involved, explaining, “There is interaction between the national and international regulations, between the logistics issue and the technical and the economical aspect, and one is depending on the other.” This intricate web of dependencies highlights the holistic planning required for F1’s return. The success of the Austrian Grand Prix hinges on seamless coordination across governmental, logistical, sporting, and financial domains, demonstrating the pioneering effort required to restart global sports events.
Specifically addressing the Austrian entry protocols, Saillant detailed, “For Austria we are discussing with local authorities how to pass the border, and after passing the border how to go to the circuit, to the paddock.” These discussions encompass every step of personnel movement, aiming to create a sterile corridor from arrival to the race track. He outlined the proposed entry requirements: “I think that when we are accepted in Austria, you can sit two days [in quarantine] in Austria and I think the best could be the team transfer to the circuit to have a test, a temperature test, but also a PCR [polymerase chain reaction] test to know if you are positive or negative.” This combination of initial quarantine, temperature checks, and the highly accurate PCR testing forms the bedrock of their entry strategy, designed to filter out potential infections before anyone enters the restricted paddock environment.
Beyond initial entry, the professor emphasized the critical importance of continuous monitoring. He believes that tests should be rigorously scheduled for all personnel every three days on a rotational basis, with the expectation that results would be available within a rapid 90-minute turnaround. This frequent and fast testing regime is pivotal for early detection and isolation. Saillant acknowledged the significant investment required for such an ambitious plan: “It’s a lot of money, it’s a lot of people, it’s a lot of staff and so on, but that is the principle.” The sheer scale of testing, involving hundreds of individuals multiple times over a race weekend, represents a substantial operational and financial commitment, but one deemed absolutely necessary for the integrity and safety of the event.
While the “clean cluster” strategy is meticulously designed to function effectively within the controlled environment of individual teams and the paddock, Professor Saillant expressed a crucial concern regarding potential cross-infection outside the circuit. He highlighted the challenges associated with common logistical arrangements: “Outside the circuit, how to go to the hotel in the same bus at the same place and to be everybody in the same hotel… I think it’s a more logistical problems than medical ones.” This observation underscores that maintaining strict hygiene and social distancing protocols extends beyond the confines of the racetrack, posing significant logistical hurdles for transportation and accommodation that require equally robust planning and oversight to prevent external breaches of the “bubble.”
To further control the overall risk and manage the event effectively, Saillant proposes strict limits on team sizes. According to his recommendations, individual teams should be restricted to a maximum of 60-80 personnel each. When combined with marshals, race officials, and media representatives, who would collectively add an estimated 400 individuals, the total number of personnel within the locked-down paddock would hover around 1,200. This figure closely aligns with the projections outlined in RaceFans’ own blueprint for races held behind closed doors, published in the preceding month, reinforcing the viability of these proposed limits.
An intriguing aspect of Saillant’s plan is his unsolicited emphasis on the role of the media. As the FIA’s foremost authority on medical matters, he firmly believes that media presence is not merely optional but absolutely vital. Saillant argues that journalists provide essential independent monitoring and reporting on what he describes as a unique human experiment. “I think the role of journalists is very important to show that if we do this, even if we try to organise their grand prix [presence], it’s a kind of laboratory,” he stated during the video call. This perspective highlights the broader implications of F1’s return, extending beyond sport to serve as a case study for global organizations. He revealed, “I have a lot of discussion with the IOC [International Olympic Committee], with the WHO [World Health Organization], and they are waiting for us, waiting to see what we do.” This places Formula 1 at the forefront of pioneering event management in a post-pandemic world, with its methods potentially influencing future large-scale gatherings.
RaceFans understands, through a reliable source directly involved in the discussions, that these comprehensive plans were presented to the GPDA (Grand Prix Drivers’ Association) executive via a video conference on a recent Friday morning. The reception was overwhelmingly “positively received,” indicating a strong buy-in from the driver community. The committee members have since undertaken the responsibility of thoroughly explaining these proposed steps to their wider membership, ensuring transparency and collective understanding across the grid. This crucial endorsement from the drivers themselves is a testament to the meticulous planning and the perceived safety of the proposed protocols, fostering confidence among those who will be at the heart of the action.
Professor Saillant firmly believes that Formula 1’s pioneering approach to safely resuming operations will yield invaluable lessons, not just for motorsport but also “for certain [other] projects in the next year.” The innovative “hub and bubble” experiment, developed and implemented within the high-stakes environment of F1, has the potential to prove instructive and adaptable for a wide array of non-sporting activities and large-scale events globally. This positions F1 not merely as an entertainment spectacle, but as a crucial real-world laboratory for pandemic-era operational strategies.
Beyond the scientific and logistical challenges, Saillant also emphasized a profound philosophical necessity: a way must be found to bring racing back in the face of the unprecedented global disruption. He encapsulated this sentiment with the timeless adage, “The show must go on.” This reflects a broader human need for continuity and resilience. He concluded with an optimistic and empowering message: “Human beings, people, are very flexible and able to adapt to any situation. We have a crisis of course, but you have to recover and show that it’s possible to change. We have to change our mentality.” This call for adaptability and a shift in mindset underscores the deeper significance of Formula 1’s return – a symbol of humanity’s capacity to overcome adversity and innovate for a new era.
2020 F1 season
- Grosjean to make F1 test return tomorrow for first time since Bahrain horror crash
- Pictures: Wrecked chassis from Grosjean’s Bahrain fireball crash to go on display
- Bottas vs Rosberg: Hamilton’s Mercedes team mates compared after 78 races each
- F1 revenues fell by $877 million in Covid-struck 2020 season
- Hamilton and Mercedes finally announce new deal for 2021 season
Browse all 2020 F1 season articles