How F1 navigated the true costs of COVID-19
As the onset of the coronavirus pandemic wrought havoc around the world, Formula 1 had to get creative to survive. The financial and human cost has been heavy but, as Mark Gallagher explains, quick thinking and urgent action allowed F1 and its stakeholders to bring the championship back from the brink of catastrophe...
Formula 1's resilience in the face of a global pandemic provided a beacon of hope to sports fans around the world in 2020, as FOM, the FIA, teams and race promoters somehow pulled together a 17-race world championship in spite of the chaos wrought by COVID-19. This came at a cost, however, as at least £2.5billion in financial engineering took place to save the championship and its constituent teams from disaster.
It is worth reflecting upon the fact that F1 staged its 2020 series against a catastrophic backdrop in terms of the harm to human life and global economic disruption. By the end of the 2020 well over 88 million people had been infected by the virus, and 1.9 million died as a result. With global travel halted and lockdowns enforced, it has had a profound impact on the business world - international sport included, along with those who work in it.
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