Magnussen: Vietnam GP could be cancelled too
F1 is facing the prospect of a gaping six-week hole in its 2020 F1 calendar, with Vietnam's new grand prix also in doubt because of the coronavirus.
As expected, the FIA on Wednesday said the Chinese F1 GP in April will be postponed, with F1 CEO Chase Carey saying a rescheduling is unlikely.
"Clearly we have a busy calendar so it's not easy to reschedule this late when essentially we are a month out from our first race of the season," he said.
And the FIA is leaving open the door to also cancelling Vietnam, which shares a border with China. There are at least 14 cases of coronavirus in Vietnam.
"The global situation regarding this virus will continue to be monitored by the FIA with regard to other motorsport events," the FIA said on Wednesday.
Kevin Magnussen, who drives for Haas, thinks Vietnam being cancelled as well is a possibility. That would leave a six-week gap in the 2020 calendar.
"We'll have to see," he told the Danish broadcaster TV2.
"Vietnam is right before China (on the calendar), so we'll have to keep an eye on that too. It's a pity, but it does mean a mini-holiday for us," Magnussen smiled.
F1's loss of income due to the Chinese GP cancellation is reportedly around $30 million, and that number would double if Vietnam now follows suit.
But Ross Brawn, F1's sporting director, told Reuters that the "advice we are getting is that it can go ahead" in Vietnam.
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Hey Chase, Vietnam and China are toast, how about filling the gap with one of the doubles? Maybe Baku could get ready in time., or is the weather to cold middle of April? These guys really need to think outside the box. Everything in F1 seems to go down to the last minute. A billion dollar business and they seem to never have contingencies...schedule, rules, number of competitors, race venues all seem to stay in a state of flux. Bernie never had these problems, and he is just an old used car salesman.
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