Vienna, Austria - More than 10 000 tests for the novel coronavirus are planned around the first two Formula One season races in Austria on July 5 and 12, the Austrian Press Agency (APA) reported on Tuesday.
The report said that the test centres at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg have opened for up to 12 000 tests on the two race weekends.
Samples will be taken twice a day to a laboratory in the German town of Ebersberg which will be open for analysis 24 hours a day, with results available 16-24 hours after the tests were conducted.
Strict hygiene rules have allowed Formula One to plan a delayed season start at the Spielberg course, where no spectators will be allowed and where teams are to live in a 'bubble'.
Some 3000 people will be present at each race weekend, with everyone needing a negative test not older than four days, says Siegfried Schnabl from Eurofins Geonomics, the company conducting the tests and analysis.
Six further races behind closed doors in Europe are scheduled until September 6. How the season will then continue has not yet been decided.
F1 bosses aim to hold 15 to 18 races between July and December, but eight races are sufficient to crown a world champion, according to the rules of the FIA governing body.
dpa
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