How F1 pulled off its second pandemic season and its 2022 implications

Compared to the year before, the 2021 Formula 1 season was much more ‘normal’. Not ‘completely back to normal’, as we’ve all said and hoped for so many times during these infernal pandemic times, but closer than many may have thought this time 12 months ago.

There was no mass cancellation of events – only five of the originally planned calendar had to be dropped (China, Canada, Singapore, Japan and Australia) – and just one repeat track visit this time around. Two drivers tested positive and missed races, down from three in 2020, and at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, a record was set for the first F1 pandemic event being completed without a single positive case recorded. The calendar expanded back to a record level, and this time the championship visited four continents (in 2020 races only took place in Europe and Asia, specifically the Middle East).

These are the headline takeaways from F1’s second pandemic season. But once again the facts of the matter – that the championship took place at all and went the duration, in such challenging circumstances – are impressive.

In what is currently a difficult time for the FIA given the furore surrounding the governing body’s rather shambolic handling of many contentious sporting decisions last season (and that really is the topic for another column!) full credit must be handed to the organisation, plus the rest of F1’s stakeholders, for the achievement of pulling off 2021 and that campaign of campaigns.

“We can be very proud of what we have achieved,” says FIA operations director Bruno Famin. “We have been able to manage all our events and all our championships. The only [events] we have been obliged to cancel or to postpone was due to local authority lack of authorisation – it was not due at all to an outbreak we generated or something like that.”

In many ways, the 2021 season was harder to organise than 2020. In the first year of the pandemic, once the FIA had established the protocol enshrined in its COVID-19 Code of Conduct regarding strict regular testing and controlled social interactions (which remained unchanged for 2021), it was able to take this to every country F1 planned to hold a race.

Famin says the FIA is proud of its logistical achievements during a challenging 2021 F1 season

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

At the time, when many countries were still considering implementing or working to build their own entry requirements and travel rules, this was used to assure authorities that the arrival of F1’s nomadic society would not disrupt life any further than that pandemic already had.

The second time around, travelling was harder as countries implemented their own arrivals requirements for entry administration (such as proof of vaccination, negative test rules and contact tracing). Sometimes this was fully digitised, generally it meant carrying reams of paper at all times, and “sometimes it got super complex”, per Famin.

At the same time, the FIA was looking to safely relax specific constraints in its protocol to allow things, as Famin puts it “to be back to business as close as normal as possible”. This meant teams being allowed sponsor guests in the paddock and their facilities, F1 getting its Paddock Club back to typical operation, the written media being able roam events more freely. For the teams and F1 there were serious cash considerations involved, for the media, deeper insight to be found.

The gradual relaxation of F1’s COVID rules last year and the FIA being “quite comfortable” with its protocol’s robustness meant it was “even open to the idea to be almost back to [totally] normal” for the coming year, according to Famin. But, as we know, the pandemic isn’t over

In terms of the F1 paddock alone, because spectator attendance is not covered by the FIA’s COVID protocol and is a concern for local authorities and promoters, restrictions began to ease in the late spring, specifically at the Monaco GP. There, the written media was allowed to enter the paddock for the first time since the Thursday of the abandoned 2020 Australian GP. But even as races appeared more ‘normal’ over the summer with typically huge crowds at events such as the second Red Bull Ring race and Silverstone, things remained quiet in the paddock.

After negotiating Zandvoort, “one of the more difficult events of the season”, per Famin because the compact venue meant spectator zones and the heightened security area of F1’s paddock bubble ran close together, the Monza paddock was practically buzzing compared to the Silverstone ghost town.

Things were eased further as the year headed towards its conclusion and Abu Dhabi was essentially business as usual with a frenzied season finale compared to the sterile event that ended 2020 (although much of that goes down to 2021 ending with a title decider, and a thriller too, rather than a dead rubber).

The paddock had returned to normality somewhat by the end of the season after some quiet events, including Turkey

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

We’re already in 2022. The gradual relaxation of F1’s COVID rules last year and the FIA being “quite comfortable” with its protocol’s robustness meant it was “even open to the idea to be almost back to [totally] normal” for the coming year, according to Famin.

But, as we know, the pandemic isn’t over. The Omicron variant has sent case numbers soaring, even with the hope it’s apparent reduced severity versus Delta and dominance over that variant means the end may soon be in sight. But another variant may arrive to crush that hope…

The 23-race calendar for the coming year once again includes much uncertainty. Travel restrictions and local operating rules will again be the deciding factor for events such as Melbourne and Suzuka, which have been painfully absent from the last two campaigns, going ahead.

The FIA’s COVID protocols work, but there is a serious change being considered, and apparently already approved according to comments made by F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali. That is to make vaccination mandatory for all event personnel. This was in effect already enacted at some events, such as Abu Dhabi, in 2021 to waive quarantine periods for vaccinated arrivals, but is a very welcome step considering the effectiveness of these wonderful tools for finally ending the current nightmare.

It is to F1’s credit that it has embraced the call to vaccinate, with the championship publicly backing the drive by organising a video message to encourage people to get a jab featuring most of the 2021 grid, which went live over the Abu Dhabi weekend.

There are serious and often cynical financial considerations for modern sport, but it shouldn’t be lost that it remains a wonderful, unifying force to capture our collective consciousnesses. The coming year is set to be challenging once again, but the show has proved it can safely go on and will do so again.

Crowds returned to races in 2021, enlivening the atmosphere and making the titanic title battle all the more special

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images