Infection camp: Red Bull advisor suggest F1 drivers be deliberately dosed with coronavirus
Red Bull’s motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has considered deliberately infecting his Formula One drivers with the new coronavirus in a camp so that they would be protected from the sickness once racing is resumed.
As F1’s season has been indefinitely suspended by the pandemic, Marko said the company’s drivers should use this inactive period to contract the virus to ensure they would not fall ill later in the year.
“We have four Formula One drivers and eight or 10 juniors,” the 76-year-old told Austrian TV station ORF.
“The idea was that we would organise a camp to mentally and physically bridge the dead time and that would be the ideal time for the infection to come.
“They are all strong young men in good health. That way they would be prepared whenever the action starts.”
The former grand prix racer said his idea had “not been well received” by Red Bull management.
Marko’s comments came following his earlier suggestion that driver Max Verstappen should catch the coronavirus so that he would later be able to “hunt down the world title completely immune”.
On March 13, the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne was cancelled after one of the McLaren Racing Team members tested positive for COVID-19.
Seven of the first eight F1 races this year have been postponed, while the Monaco Grand Prix scheduled for May 24 was cancelled.
F1 CEO Chase Carey said he expected the season to resume “at some point this summer”.
“It is not possible to provide a more specific calendar now due to the fluidity of the current situation but we expect to gain clearer insights to the situation in each of our host countries, as well as the issues related to travel to these countries, in the coming month,” he said.
“We will continue to take advice from health officials and experts, as our first priority continues to be the safety and health of our fans, the communities we visit and those within the Formula 1 family.”