F1 will respect "vulnerable" and not queue jump in vaccine roll out

Formula 1

F1 will respect "vulnerable" and not queue jump in vaccine roll out

CEO Domenicali said the sport will discuss whether it will vaccinate key personnel

Ian Parkes & Ewan Gale

Monday 8 February 2021 14:59

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Formula 1 will "not jump the line" to receive vaccinations that would assist in completing a championship efficiently during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to CEO Stefano Domenicali.

Vaccinations have been rolled out with a focus on the elderly and vulnerable in a system that works through a variety of groups to determine as to who is immunised and when.

It has been suggested a number of countries will vaccinate their athletes ahead of this summer's rearranged Olympic Games in Tokyo in order for safe competition.

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While Domenicali has confirmed it is a situation the sport will monitor, he is adamant there will be no queue jumping.

“This is a very important point because you can take this from both sides," said Domenicali.

"What I can tell you is the priority for us is the safety for vulnerable people. On our side, we don’t want to jump the line of vaccination.

"For sure vaccination is very, very important and I would say that I’m looking forward to being vaccinated as, I would say, everyone, should be in this moment.

"We are thinking about what could be the discussion related to that. So if that could be possible we will for sure discuss it internally with the teams.

"But we need to be prudent and see and respect, of course, what is the situation with all the vulnerable people."

A 23-race calendar is still on the table for this season despite the early date switch for the Australian Grand Prix, the likely full cancellation of the Chinese GP and the TBC date left by the dropped Vietnam GP.

Domenicali has insisted, however, any decision on vaccinations to help the schedule be fulfilled would be made with respect to national governments and their directives.

"We don’t want to be seen as the ones that are taking that away [from the vulnerable]," he added.

"So a lot of respect on what the governments are saying, a lot of respect what the people will do.

"But in that respect, we need to be prudent and all I can say is I hope to be vaccinated soon."