Chinese Formula 1 Grand Prix expected to be axed as coronavirus outbreak impacts sporting fixtures

The race, which is scheduled for April 19, looks certain to be the first Grand Prix to be postponed since 2011’s Bahrain Grand Prix which was impacted by the Arab Spring protests at the time, after the FIA said that they were “closely monitoring the evolving situation“.

Also on rt.com Shanghai shutdown: Chinese city to suspend ALL sports events as coronavirus fears increase

More than 40,000 cases of the coronavirus have been reported worldwide, with over 1,000 deaths being recorded in China to this point. 

“We recognise that the postponement of the event is certainly a possibility,” Formula 1 Group chief executive Chase Carey told Reuters. “You could probably go even further and say a likelihood just given what seems to be transpiring.“

The race is scheduled to take place in Shanghai, just 500 miles from Wuhan – the initial source of the outbreak. The first-ever Vietnamese Grand Prix, set for April 5, is also understood to be in danger of being cancelled. The race, which is set for Hanoi, is just 100 miles from the Chinese border. Latest figures suggest that 15 people have been diagnosed with the illness in the region.

Ross Brawn, Formula 1 sporting director, admitted that the race is in danger but said that efforts would be made to reschedule it before the end of the season, though doing so in an already packed F1 calendar may prove impossible. In the event of the race’s permanent cancellation, the promoter of the event would lose their race fee.

Also on rt.com ‘It is our common disaster’: UFC to extradite Zhang Weili from China as strawweight champ leaves Beijing over coronavirus fears

Organizers of the the upcoming Grand Prix in Russia have already ruled out switching dates with the Chinese Grand Prix, which now looks certain to follow the World Athletics Championship in Nanjing in being high profile sporting events to have been impacted by the onset of the virus.

Several women’s Olympic basketball fixtures have also been impacted, as sports authorities in Shanghai warns of further impact on the sports schedule.