Why discomfort and distancing is worth it for F1's return

Tilt your head back, close your eyes and relax. It's become the mantra for every single one of the 2000 people present at the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend, with perhaps the most unpleasant challenge of the new coronavirus protocols having emerged.

The throat and nose swab test, which is the most effective way of detecting the presence of coronavirus, is something that everyone attending the race is having to go through every five days in a bid to keep the F1 show on the road.

Ask anyone who has taken it and they will tell you that, while not too painful, it's horribly unpleasant. In simple terms, medical staff have to probe the back of your throat and nostrils with a swab to try to detect traces of the virus. The Twitter video that Sergio Perez posted on Wednesday tells you everything you need to know about it being pretty grim.

But these are unusual times for all in F1, and everything about the Austrian GP is far from normal. The social distancing; the wearing of face masks; the need for social bubbles and the super strict measures are all necessary factors that have ensured Austria marks the return of F1 after just more than 110 days since it all came to a halt on that Friday morning in Melbourne.

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As McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl said on Friday morning, shortly before cars finally took to the track for the first official session of the season: "Already when you drive in, especially on a track like here where you are used to having all the fans out there with the campsites being full, it feels strange, it feels different.

"Also here within the paddock, with all the distancing also between the teams, you don't have the normal interaction that you would normally have with other team members or other teams, and with you guys [the media].

"We can see everyone feels quite cautious to make sure no-one is doing anything wrong in terms of procedures and so on. Then also seeing the entire paddock running around with its face masks, although we are all used to that now from private life. It feels a bit weird."

Whereas in Melbourne it seemed F1 had been caught by surprise by the speed of coronavirus developments, and there was no turning back once that McLaren team member tested positive on Thursday night, in Austria every eventuality appears to be catered for.

Everyone present has had to complete a negative coronavirus test 92 hours before arriving in the paddock, and thereafter must complete one every five days for the duration they are away.

"If we didn't have all these procedures in place and something untoward happened, then we all know where the finger would be pointed - even if it wasn't directly" Michael Masi

There are no ifs and buts over it. With the tests all logged on a central system, anyone who goes past the five-day period will find that their paddock passes no longer work.

F1 is being super strict on its social bubbles too. The FIA has revealed that in total there are 57 bubbles across the 2000 people present - and none of those groups should mix with another. Everywhere there are signs urging people to stay two metres apart. Hand sanitisers are dotted around frequently. The temperature of everyone entering the track is taken, and face masks are mandatory apart from when you are sat at a desk.

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There is no paddock access for the media; and no direct contact between journalists and anyone working elsewhere. The media centre has just more than 20 journalists present, with a similar number of photographers who are split in to those who take pictures out on track and those who are confined to the paddock. The two packs don't mix.

Press conferences are streamed, with questions either being live streamed or submitted in advance via video or email.

The bubbles that operate between teams are also being enforced. The personnel of teams can not only not mix with rivals, but there are also strict limits on how the bubbles within the team bubbles operates. For example, team personnel that operate on different cars are also not mixing.

It's all designed to ensure that if there is an outbreak and a team member tests positive then a swift isolation policy can be put in place to limit the spread. While the towns near the Red Bull Ring seem pretty relaxed about the coronavirus - with masks seeming to be the exception rather than the rule in shops and restaurants - F1 has dismissed talk of overkill.

FIA race director Michael Masi said: "Austria is in quite good shape where they currently are in the scheme of things, but if we didn't have all these procedures in place and something untoward happened, then we all know where the finger would be pointed - even if it wasn't directly.

"For me it's as much as anything about trying to protect the championship, protect the area, and not have any impact.

"We want to demonstrate as a world championship, and really as the first major sport that travels over so many venues and in so many countries, to show what we can do.

"But also we need to take into account the situation in each country that we're looking to go to. It's probably both sides of demonstrating what we can do and how we can operate in as safe as possible environment: minimising the risk, being as self sufficient as possible and minimising the impact on the local area."

What is clear is that F1 has worked hard to make itself as robust as possible to the virus; and is a whole lot more better prepared than it was in Australia - as pretty much nobody could have predicted back then how quickly things would escalate around the world.

Masi said: "If you said to me on the Tuesday of the Australian GP that 10 days later, or 12 days later, the world was going to be completely locked down and there was going to be no plane travel or anything else anywhere, I think all of us would have looked at each other and said: what's going on?"

To stay on course and make sure F1 doesn't suffer another race cancellation, the robust protocols on show in Austria must continue for the mid term. The FIA suspects that things will stay this strict for at least the first eight races of the campaign.

But amid all that's gone on in the world, the repeated nose tests are a small price to pay for getting the F1 show back again

While that is good news for fans and everyone in F1 who wants to keep the races rolling now that they have started up again, the one bit of bad news is it means continuing that run of throat and nose swab tests...

I asked Masi if there had been any resistance from F1 personnel about the repeated nose tests, or requests for a different approach, and he acknowledged that they certainly weren't hugely popular.

"People asked probably about eight weeks ago, when everyone started having nasal tests from teams and so forth," he said. "But based on the advice of Professor Saillant (President of the FIA Medical Commission) and Professor Eric Caumes (FIA, Medical Expert), they said that is the most reliable test there is at the moment.

"There's obviously other testing methods, with the hope of going down a saliva test down the track, but obviously the PCR test through the nasal passage and throat, is the double test that's happening at the moment and is the most reliable.

"But I think everyone that has had a PCR test will confirm that it is not the most pleasant thing that's happened to you..."

For now it means more tilting the head back, closing the eyes and relaxing. But amid all that's gone on in the world, it's a small price to pay for getting the F1 show back again.