Boris Johnson poised to intervene to ensure British GP goes ahead

The 2020 British Grand Prix appears to be back on amid reports British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will intervene to ensure teams and staff are exempt from the incoming 14-day quarantine ruling.

F1 bosses had identified Silverstone as the provisional third and fourth rounds of the much delayed season, which is due to get underway on July 5th with two back-to-back events at Austria’s Red Bull Ring.

However, those plans were thrown into jeopardy when the UK announced it would be implementing a 14-day quarantine for all new arrivals on June 8. As it stands, the list of exemptions to this rule are limited to essential arrivals such as truck drivers and anyone associated with efforts to beat COVID-19.

While sporting events are not considered exempt as yet, The Times is reporting PM Boris Johnson has intervened to discuss allowing those travelling for the sole purpose of ensuring the two events – on July 26 and August 2 – can go ahead unimpeded.

It is possible the exemption rules will be relaxed further anyway when the measures are reviewed three weeks beyond June 8, though without confirmation coming soon F1 may be forced to delay the Silverstone round for later in the summer anyway. However, this would put it in range of the MotoGP race too, which currently remains on schedule for 30 August.

In the meantime, both Germany at the Hockenheimring and the Hungaroring in Hungary look more prepared to host a race directly after Austria after receiving government assurances their events will be able to go ahead, albeit without spectators and under strict social distancing conditions.

Even so, an agreement with the government is considered to be crucial for some teams based in the UK to allow them to return to factories before moving on to other races.