Formula 1 "in trouble" if it is miserly with marshals for closed-door races

F1 2020

Formula 1 "in trouble" if it is miserly with marshals for closed-door races

F1 marshal explains the problems faced with racing under lockdown

Sam Hall

Wednesday 29 April 2020 10:40 Updated: 11:13

The British Motorsport Marshals Club has warned Formula 1 it will be "in trouble" if it attempts to skimp on the numbers of the 'orange army' required for a behind-closed-doors event.

Ahead of a hoped-for return to racing in early July, F1 is understandably looking to minimise the number of people on-site, both within the teams and across all the support staff required to safely stage a race.

Dave Smithson, BMMC Brand and Communications Officer and a marshal himself, has revealed that he is aware of a number of governing bodies questioning the minimum number of marshals required.

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"That was a question asked of me recently - ‘What if they were going to have smaller teams on each post?’" Smithson told GPFans.

"I know some governing bodies are looking at - ‘What is the bare minimum that we can run with to run safely?’. It’s all well and good, but once you take that step, if something major happens and it all goes wrong, it’s too late.

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"If you haven’t got the bodies on the ground to do what you need to do, then you’re going to be in trouble."

F1 is also looking into what social distancing measures may be required, with no details revealed as yet. Smithson claims such a practice would be impossible to implement for the marshals.

"I think we face some real challenges, to be honest with you in that respect," added Smithson.

"There are some roles and some occasions where there may well be ample opportunity to keep social distancing in place for some people, but there will be other roles and other occasions where it’s impossible.

"For example, people working in [the] pit lane or multiple-crewed fire trucks or ambulances, medical facilities. If there’s an incident on track and a driver needs attending to, you can’t suddenly start worrying about social distancing when you’re trying to drag somebody out of a car that’s possibly on fire.

"With everything going on with halos and all the rest of it, you haven’t got time to worry about social distancing in a situation like that. We’ve got to be mindful of that.

"I know the governing body is in discussions with governments and other people, and I think we have to wait and see whether or not it’s feasible or practical.

"But I strongly suspect when you break it down and look at it in detail, there are too many situations where it’s just going to be impossible to maintain that safe space and distance."

For the Austrian Grand Prix, that is currently slated as the season-opener on July 5, a quarantine period of two weeks prior to the event for personnel attending has been suggested.

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For the volunteer workforce, who may be back at work by the time of the July event, they would almost certainly be unable to meet this criterion.

There is also the added problem that a number of marshals could currently be employed as 'key workers', working in the NHS or in other frontline roles.

Smithson is equally unconvinced about the idea of marshals being required to wear additional protective equipment, such as face masks or, potentially, helmets.

With the ability to communicate key when recovering a vehicle and/or driver, extra equipment could cause more problems than it solves.

Smithson added, "These are the challenges, the practicalities of what you’re facing, and you just don’t know what could occur, what kind of incident would require the intervention of marshals.

"If you think to Abu Dhabi when [Nico] Hulkenberg went on his roof. That’s probably the most recent challenging situation that any marshal has had to deal with [in F1], and without any [additional] protective equipment on them, that took them a while to get that under control and get him out safely.

"The extraction crews that go to those kinds of incidents are exemplary. They really are first-class at what they do.

"But you put extra protective equipment on them to safeguard them from this current situation and who knows what impact that would have on their ability to carry out their function quickly and efficiently."