The Bahrain Grand Prix will go ahead as planned but be the first race held in the Formula 1 championship’s 70-year history with no spectators.
An announcement from the organizers of the event cited the continued global spread of the coronavirus as the reason why spectators will not be permitted at the event.
There were 85 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Bahrain as of Sunday and the island nation is in close proximity to Iran where there have been more than 6,500 cases of the virus.
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“In consultation with our international partners and the Kingdom’s national health Taskforce, Bahrain has made the decision to hold this year’s Bahrain Grand Prix as a participants-only event,” a statement from organizers reads. “Given the continued spread of Covid-19 globally, convening a major sporting event, which is open to the public and allows thousands of international travelers and local fans to interact in close proximity would not be the right thing to do at the present time.”
The Bahrain Grand Prix is scheduled to be held between March 19-22 and will be the second race in the 2020 Formula 1 World Championship.
Interestingly, the first race, the Australian Grand Prix, will go ahead as planned in Melbourne this weekend and will allow spectators. As of writing, there had been 74 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Australia with three confirmed deaths. The Chinese Grand Prix, originally scheduled for the weekend of April 17-19, has been canceled.