A spokesperson for the sport’s commercial division said that starting this season, Formula One will make it mandatory for all staff working on its lawns to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 without exemption, starting this season.
The authority, first reported by the Times and BBC, will apply to anyone entering the paddock – a dedicated area for teams and drivers to set up shop for the race weekend.
A spokesperson said: “F1 will require all staff moves to be made in full and will not ask for an exemption.
This will include all competitors, hotel employees, members of the media, governing FIAs, FOMs, franchise owners owned by Liberty Media, and even celebrity guests. language.
The mandate was adopted at the December meeting of the FIA’s World Motor Sports Council.
News of F1’s vaccine mission comes after Novak Djokovic’s Australian Open vaccine controversy.
The world number 1 tennis player was detained by immigration authorities on January 6, released by a court on January 10, then detained again before being forced to leave Australia after when the the final judgment of the court upholds the decision of the government to cancel your visa.
The new regulations raise questions about the future of longtime medical driver Alan van der Merwe.
South Africans who played an important role in the rescue Romain Grosjean after a fiery accident at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, chose not to get vaccinated for personal reasons. The FIA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the vaccine mission or Van der Merwe’s future.
F1 set a record 23 races this year, with races such as Singapore, Japan, Canada and Australia, which were canceled over the past two years, returning.
The sport has successfully hosted two seasons amid the pandemic by adopting a system of bubbles and frequent testing.
The 2022 season, which will feature all new cars designed for a radical overhaul of the rules, will get underway in Bahrain on March 20.
Teams will ride at pre-season practice in Spain from February 23-25 and official testing in Bahrain from March 10-12.
