Ferrari boss in Formula 1, Mattia Binotto, hopes his team can help “put a smile on people’s faces” in Australia to distract from the growing coronavirus crisis.
In recent days, Ferrari has been at the center of concerns over the opening races of the coming season due to a lockout in parts of Italy – including the province of Lombardy where its Maranello base is located – with 16 million people in strict quarantine until at least April 3. .
Italy has become the most affected country outside of China – where the COVID-19 outbreak began – with 5,735 people confirmed to be infected, while 366 have died from the disease.
Ferrari confirmed on Sunday that its travel plans had not been compromised by the lockdown and that its staff would travel to Melbourne for the first lap of the season without problems.
Speaking in a preview released by the team, Binotto said that Ferrari was “united” as it headed for Australia.
“After a long winter working on the construction and development of our car, the time has come to get a first indication of our level of performance and the effectiveness of the improvements that we have introduced in recent months”, did he declare.
“We know the opposition is strong, but we also know that it is the start of a long season where pace of development, reliability and operational efficiency will be essential.
“We are preparing for all of these challenges as a united team, aware of the progress that needs to be made and proud of the support of our fans around the world.
“In a difficult time for Italy and the world as a whole, as part of a world sport, it is our duty to try to make people smile as they prepare to watch the first race of the season with the same sense of anticipation as ourselves. “
Just hours after the lockdown in Italy, the organizers of the Bahrain Grand Prix – which follows a week after Australia – announced that it would organize its race behind closed doors following the coronavirus epidemic.
Last week, the F1 governing body, the FIA, announced that it had set up a “crisis cell” to monitor the epidemic.
Question marks remain over the Vietnam Grand Prix to host the third round of the year, as preventive measures in the country did not prevent the number of COVID-19 cases from increasing during the week last.
