Doubt grows around the Chinese GP

Doubt hangs more and more over the 2020 Chinese Grand Prix, 4th round of the world championship of Formula 1 scheduled to take place from April 17 to 19 at the Shanghai International Circuit. 

The reason has been known for weeks, the coronavirus epidemic which has hit the Middle Kingdom since the end of December and continues to increase in intensity and scale. The balance reached this Wednesday almost 25 contaminations for almost 000 deaths. 

Many sporting events planned soon in China, including Formula e Sanya ePrix originally scheduled for March 21, have already been canceled or postponed. No official decision has yet been taken concerning the arrival of F1 in just over two months but the subject is on the table of the F1 Strategic Group which is meeting today. 

At the same time, the Shanghai Sports Federation strongly advised local sports associations to suspend the holding of events in the region until the end of the epidemic, via a message broadcast this Wednesday.

However, the institution is not authorized to make a definitive decision when it comes to an international event. It is in fact up to the promoter of the Chinese GP, Juss Event, to make a request to the FOM and the FIA. However, the Chinese bureaucracy encompasses multiple layers and such a procedure necessarily takes time. 

Contacted by AUTOhebdo, F1 says it continues to monitor developments in the situation but between the lines we understand that we are moving more and more towards a postponement.

Briefly mentioned, the prospect of an exchange with another destination, Russia by chance, was quickly defeated for logistical and commercial reasons. As for the prospect of seeing a circuit like Hockenheim recover the slot, it appears to be very weak, if not non-existent.