The FIA should consider re-branding to Fumbling Idiot Arseholes after delaying the cancellation of the 2020 Australian Grand Prix. As the Coronavirus epidemic spread fast there was great unease about the event going ahead. As soon as the McLaren team touched down in Australia an employee contracted the virus and received immediate medical intervention. McLaren quickly decided to withdraw. However, as a precaution, 14 of its team members remain in Australian for weeks of self-isolation.
With this evidence at hand, the FIA still remained on an inexplicable collision course of single-mindedness. The FIA is all about statistics, measurement and good practice. Even before they eventually canceled the Australian Grand Prix, the FIA failed on every front of the good practice they so very much rely upon. The FIA is all about making Formula One safer. But to what end, by delaying the inevitable they put lives at risk.
As cases of Conoravirus increased the FIA continued to sail their precious cargo of yes men straight towards a giant iceberg, making no attempt to change course. But as Lewis Hamilton bemoaned, “cash is king” for the FIA.
Meaning profits before people. Now the Coronavirus is a full-blown Pandemic. While I do not decry ethical profiteering or even rampant profiteering, a line has to be drawn at some point. And by canceling the 2020 Australian Grand Prix the FIA did the right thing, albeit kicking and screaming at the very last minute.
The F1 season is expected to be rescheduled to begin at the end of May. The championship could be cut from 22 races to 17-18.