McLaren and Mercedes staff members are still stuck in Bahrain as the conflict in the Middle East has disrupted travel plans ahead of the start of the F1 season in Melbourne this week.
F1 reporter Craig Slater told Sky Sports News on Monday morning Australian time that more than 100 people from the two teams and tyre manufacturer Pirelli are still in Bahrain following the cancellation of the weekend’s two-day tyre testing event.
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“They are still working on an exit strategy to get those people out (of Bahrain),” Sky Sports F1 reporter Craig Slater said.
“They are working together those two teams to get those people back home.
“You’re talking around about 50 staff each from the two teams and maybe in excess of 20 from Pirelli.”
Slater stressed that none of McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, nor Mercedes duo George Russell and Kimi Antonelli are in Bahrain.
And that the escalation of conflict in the Middle East will not put a stop to the race around Melbourne’s Albert Park.
“I am among people who have had to rebook flights that were going through the Middle East to find another route to transit to Melbourne,” Slater said.
“And they’re probably a few hundred people in the same boat.”
“An inconvenience more than anything else. It is not going to jeopardise the first race of the season,” he added.
“And just to underline, none of the race drivers, I understand, were in Bahrain for that tyre test either.
“So, the people that need to be in Melbourne will get there.”
A report by The Sun stated it was roughly 2,000 staff members connected with the F1 teams that have been forced to alter their arrangements to get to Australia.
Iranian strikes in Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates led to major airports in Doha and Dubai being closed.
Some F1 staff have changed their flight plans to fly through Singapore or Hong Kong, while others will now fly direct to Perth from London before taking a domestic flight to Melbourne.
One of the biggest clouds hanging over the F1 season is next month’s races in Bahrain (April 12) and Saudi Arabia (April 19).
“Our next three races are in Australia, China (March 15) and Japan (March 29), not in the Middle East – those races are not for a number of weeks,” a F1 spokesperson said.
“As always, we closely monitor any situation like this and work closely with relevant authorities.”
Slater said that F1 officials continue to reiterate that they will not make any immediate decisions on those two races.
“I spoken to F1 about that. They say they are monitoring the situation but they won’t make any kneejerk reactions,” he said.
“They are pointing out that there a four or five weeks to go until those events.
“Maybe there can be a ceasefire or a de-escalation.
“However, and while they liaise with the governments in those territories, they have shown that they can be adaptable and fluid with the calendar in the past.
“It’s a big calendar. Not easy to think where you slot those races back in. There is a three week gap in May. There’s the August summer break, but that’s very hot in the Middle East.”
Earlier, Pirelli’s two-day wet tyre test, scheduled for this weekend in Bahrain, was cancelled.
“The two days of development tests for wet-weather compounds, scheduled for today and tomorrow at the Bahrain International Circuit, have been cancelled for security reasons following the evolving international situation,” a spokesperson from Pirelli said.
“All Pirelli personnel currently in Manama are safe in their hotels.
“The company is working to ensure their safety and arrange their return to Italy and the UK as soon as possible.”
F1 is not the only sport that has been impacted.
The escalation in the Middle East is set to have significant implications on this year’s FIFA World Cup in the United States.
Iran are scheduled to play group matches in June against New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles before a clash with Egypt in Seattle.
FIFA has said it will monitor developments from the conflict, but it is expected that the Iranian national team will not be allowed into the US.
“We had a meeting today and it is premature to comment in detail, but we will monitor developments around all issues around the world,” FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafstrom said.
“We had the finals draw in Washington in which all teams participated, and our focus is on a safe World Cup with all the teams participating. We will continue to communicate as we always do with three [host] governments as we always do in any case. Everybody will be safe.”
But the Iranian Football Federation acknowledged that it was not unlikely that their men’s team will play in the World Cup.
“With what happened today and with that attack by the United States, it is unlikely that we can look forward to the World Cup, but the sports chiefs are the ones who must decide on that,” Mehdi Taj, the president of the Iranian Football Federation, said on Iranian public television.
Iraq or the UAE would be the likely replacements to fill the vacant Asian spots.
Iran’s women’s team will still take part in the Women’s Asian Cup, and they will face the Matildas on the Gold Coast on Thursday night.
Meanwhile, The Telegraph reported that former world No.1 Daniil Medvedev is among a group of tennis players stranded in Dubai.
Medvedev won the ATP’s Dubai Championships on Saturday and is due to travel to the United States for next week’s Indian Wells tournament.
Cricket’s England Lions have cancelled a match with the Pakistan Shaheens in Abu Dhabi.
The England and Wales Cricket Board have also delayed next week’s scheduled trip for their women’s squad to Abu Dhabi.
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