F1 bosses reveal ambitious plan to start coronavirus-hit season with drivers tested every two days

FORMULA ONE bosses have released details on their ambitious plan to kick-off their season.

F1 chief Ross Brawn had already announced the sport wants to start in Austria on July 5 with a race behind closed doors.

SunSport revealed how F1’s plans included chartering in flights to a nearby airfield and keeping teams in separate hotels.

And now Brawn, who is also looking to do the same with Silverstone and the British GP, says F1 will also employ a vigorous testing system for the coronavirus.

He said: “Everybody will be tested and will receive clearance before they can go in to the paddock and every two days they will be tested.

“Then we will have restrictions on how people move around in the paddock.

“We cannot social distance within a team, so we have to create an environment that in itself is effectively a small bubble of isolation.

“The teams will stay within their own groups and won’t mingle with other teams.

“They will stay in their own hotels. So there is a tremendous amount of work going on with the FIA and I am very encouraged by what I have seen and what I am hearing that we will be able put on a safe environment.”

Everybody will be tested and will receive clearance before they can go in to the paddock and every two days they will be tested.

F1 chief Ross Brawn

Brawn also revealed he will be presenting the full details of the safety measures to the drivers over the coming days.

Meanwhile, he says talks with team bosses over an introduction of a cost cap, that will limit team’s budgets to $145million (£117million), has been agreed.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner told SunSport he felt there was a better solution to cutting team’s costs by allowing them to purchase older chassis, saving them millions.

But Brawn says a cost-cap will come into F1’s rules to drive down the amount they spend on developing their cars.

He said: “The budget cap’s initial objectives were a more competitive field and with the situation we have now, the economic sustainability of Formula One is the priority.

“That counts as much for the big teams as it does for the smaller ones. We are going to start at $145m and discussions are on how to drive this down.

“There is also going to be a much more equitable prize fund.

“The midfield teams are going to be much-more better off in terms of the proportion of prize money.

“It has been balanced in every direction. Reduce the amount of money spent in F1 and improve the distribution of the prize fund more evenly.

“A good, midfield team should be able to score podiums, even a win and it should make a small profit.

“If we can achieve that, then we should have a more sustainable future.

“We want to keep the teams alive. If we lost a team in this period it would be a tragedy. We are working hard in a fair and equitable way.

“We have ten very good teams in F1 and we want to keep it that way.”