Coronavirus concerns for AlphaTauri ahead of Australian season opener

AlphaTauri reveal struggles that they will face in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak with their Faenza headquarters in Italy close to the epicenter of the European outbreak.

Over 1,500-cases of the coronavirus have been recorded in Italy with 34 fatalities and AlphaTauri team boss Franz Tost says that the spread represents a serious concern for the Italian based team.

“Coronavirus is a really serious story from AlphaTauri’s side,” said Tost. “We instructed all the employees to behave in a special manner, we reduced the travelling dramatically, people coming from the red zones in Italy should stay at home.

“We do not want that they come to the factory, suppliers should also not visit us in the factory.

“We shall see what happens with the races in Melbourne and Bahrain."

Tost also revealed how the team have limited the guests that they invited to pre-season testing in a bid to prevent a further spread.

“We would have had a lot of guests from Lombardy and the [surrounding] area and we said please stay where you are as we cannot invite you here to Barcelona just to prevent anyone here from getting the sickness.

“From the logistics side we had to change the flights as we are not allowed anymore to go via Singapore and Hong Kong and there’s a lot of work in front of us.”

Ferrari are also facing similar concerns and, while Formula One CEO Chase Carey has said that the Vietnam will go ahead, speculation continues to surround the new grand prix venue on the calendar.

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