The 2021 Formula 1 season was much more “normal” compared to the previous one at the Great Circus. Not “back to normal” as we all have so many times during these hellish pandemic times, but closer than many might have thought 12 months earlier.
There have been no massive cancellations of grand prizes – only five had to be removed from the planned calendar ( China, Canada, Singapore, Japan and Australia ) – and only one circuit visit was repeated. Two drivers tested positive and missed races, up from three in 2020, and the Brazilian Grand Prix saw the first full test run without registering a single positive case. The calendar was extended again to equal the record of 22 appointments, and it was possible to travel to four continents (in 2020 the races were only held in Europe and Asia, specifically in the Middle East).
Those were the highlights of F1 ‘s second pandemic season. But, once again, the facts – that the championship was held and lasted so long, in such difficult circumstances – were impressive.
With all these situations, full credit must be given to the organisation, in addition to the rest of F1’s stakeholders, for the achievement of getting the 2021 campaign off the ground.
“We can be very proud of what we have achieved,” said FIA chief operating officer Bruno Famin . “We have been able to manage all our commitments and all our championships. The only (events) that we have been forced to cancel or postpone were due to the lack of authorization from the local authorities, it was not at all due to an outbreak that we generate or something.”
In some areas, the 2021 season was more difficult to organize than the 2020 season. In the first year of the pandemic, once the FIA had established protocol in its COVID-19 Code of Conduct regarding strict regular testing and controlled social interactions (which remained unchanged for 2021), was able to take it to every country F1 was planning to hold a race in.
Bruno Famin, FIA Director of Operations
At the time, when many countries were still considering putting in place their own entry requirements and travel rules, this was used to reassure the authorities that the arrival of the nomadic caravan that is Formula 1 would not disrupt life more than what the pandemic had already done.
The second time, traveling was more difficult, as countries imposed their own entry requirements on each nation (such as vaccination certificates, negative PCR tests, and contact tracing). Sometimes that was fully digitized, but generally it meant carrying around a bundle of documents at all times, and “sometimes it got super complex,” according to Famin.
At the same time, the FIA was looking to safely relax certain restrictions in its protocol to allow things, as Famin puts it, to “go back to as normal as possible”. This meant teams could have sponsor guests in the paddock and on their premises, F1 would get its Paddock Club back up and running, and print media could go to events more freely. For the teams and F1 there were serious cash considerations, for the media, deeper insight.
As for the paddock , as spectator attendance is not covered by the FIA’s COVID protocol and is a concern for local authorities and promoters, restrictions started to ease in late spring, specifically at the Monaco GP. There the print media was allowed into the paddock for the first time since the Thursday of the infamous 2020 Australian GP . But even when racing seemed more ‘normal’ during the summer, with the huge crowds of fans at events like the second race of the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone, things were still quiet in the back of the garages.
After negotiating with Zandvoort, “one of the most difficult events of the season” according to Famin, because the small circuit meant that the spectator areas and the reinforced security zone of the F1 paddock bubble were close together, in Monza was practically packed with people compared to Silverstone.
Things relaxed further as the year drew to a close, and Abu Dhabi was business as usual, with a frantic season finale to decide the title, rather than the non-sporting interest race of 2020. .
Haas team members arrive in the paddock
As early as 2022 , according to Famin, the gradual relaxation of F1’s COVID rules last year and the fact that the FIA is “quite comfortable” with the strength of its protocol, mean it is “even open to the idea of return almost to total normality” previously known for this new course.
But, as we know, the pandemic is not over. The Omicron variant has triggered the number of cases. And even with the hope that its apparent lower gravity versus Delta and its dominance over that variant means the end may soon be in sight, another variant could arrive to crush that illusion.
The 23-race calendar for next year again includes a lot of uncertainty. Travel restrictions and local operating regulations will once again be the deciding factor in whether events like Melbourne and Suzuka, which have been absent for the last two seasons, can take place.
The FIA’s COVID protocols work, but there is a serious change being considered, and apparently already approved based on comments from F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali . It is about making vaccination mandatory for all staff.
This has already been enacted in some events, such as in Abu Dhabi, in 2021, to exempt those who arrive vaccinated from quarantine periods, but it is a welcome step considering the effectiveness of the wonderful vaccines to finally end the current nightmare.
F1 is to the credit of accepting the vaccination call, and the championship has publicly endorsed the initiative by organizing a video message with the drivers to encourage people to get vaccinated in which most of the 2021 grid appears, which aired over the Abu Dhabi weekend.
There are serious and often cynical financial issues to modern sport, but it must not be lost sight of that it remains a wonderful and unifying force in capturing our collective consciousness. Next year will be a challenge again, but the show has shown that it can safely go on and will do so again.
