Yahoo Finance Coronavirus: Monaco Grand Prix gets canceled as F1 extends postponements
The greatest day in racing has already seen a cancellation
Formula 1 said Thursday that it had postponed three more races on top of the four races that were postponed to begin the season because of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The additional postponements include the May 24 Monaco Grand Prix in addition to the Dutch Grand Prix and Spanish Grand Prix.
“Formula 1, the FIA and the three promoters have taken these decisions in order to ensure the health and safety of the travelling staff, championship participants and fans, which remains our primary concern,” the FIA said in a statement.
Not long after the FIA’s statement, the group that runs the Monaco Grand Prix announced that the race would be canceled.
BREAKING: The Monaco Grand Prix will not take place in 2020, announces @ACM_Media
It is the first time since 1954 that F1 will not race in the Principality #F1 #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/HtS2md4Iq4— Formula 1 (@F1) March 19, 2020
The Monaco Grand Prix is typically run the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend ahead of the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in the United States. Both American auto races are still on as scheduled, but as we’ve learned throughout the short life of this pandemic so far, things can change pretty quickly.
F1 had traveled to Australia for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix a weekend ago but the race was cancelled before cars hit the track. The Chinese Grand Prix was postponed before the season began when the coronavirus expanded throughout China and F1 postponed races in Bahrain and Vietnam when it postponed the race in Australia.
The earliest the Formula 1 season will start is now June 7 in Azerbaijan. Formula 1’s teams came to an agreement earlier this week to ditch the traditional summer break in August with the goal of getting postponed races completed during that scheduled break. IndyCar has postponed races through April while NASCAR has said it has a goal of restarting racing on May 9 at Martinsville.
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
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