F1 stock loses $2.6 billion in value - is F1 treating the coronavirus pandemic seriously?
F1 stock loses $2.6 billion in value - is F1 treating the coronavirus pandemic seriously?
MotoGP have postponed four Grand Prix. Formula E have postponed three. The Rugby Union Six Nations competition is in tatters and football leagues across Europe may remain incomplete. But Formula One carries on in Melbourne, which begs the question - are they taking the coronavirus situation seriously enough?
While some insisted that the media hysteria surrounding the coronavirus outbreak misrepresented the scale of the situation, those claims can now be put to bed after the World Health Organisation classified the outbreak as a pandemic - this meaning that the virus is 'prevalent over a whole country or the world'.
On Sunday 8 March, Northern Italy was put in lockdown, with travel in or out of the region prohibited. That included the Ferrari headquarters in Modena and Maranello, yet Ferrari were still able to travel to Australia on Monday, 9 March.
Since this date, Italy has been put on complete lockdown and Australia has added the country to a travel ban - others already affected including China, Iran and South Korea.
At the time of writing, Australia has a recorded number of 122 cases of coronavirus and three members of Formula One personnel are in self isolation after showing symptoms. Test results are expected within the next 24 hours.
The reaction from Formula One to the possible cases within the paddock and those in the wider world has been to simply to cancel the autograph sessions and limit contact between drivers and the public.
Bahrain race officials made the decision to run the second race of the season behind closed doors. The decision was not taken by Liberty Media or the FIA. Conversely, after China put a travel ban in place, Formula One was left with no choice but to postpone the race.
Concerns have surrounded the Vietnam Grand Prix since the outbreak began in China, the two countries sharing a border, but the fans keep being told that the race will go ahead as planned. While Vietnam largely has the situation under control, the country have suspended visas for British citizens after 13 passengers tested positive for coronavirus on arrival from London.
Leaked messages also suggest that the postponement of the race may be taken out of the hands of Formula One officials. The Formula One Group (FWONK) share price has tumbled in recent days and was trading at as little as $28.23 on Wednesday having opened at $30.96.
This drop wiped an estimated $600 million from the value of the sport, taking the total loss to $2.6 billion since hitting a high in January.
BREAKING: #F1 stock crashes to 2015 price. $FWONK has plummeted 10% today wiping a staggering $600 MILLION off its value. #F1 has lost a total of $2.6 BILLION since its peak in mid Jan driven by the #coronavirus. Chase Carey has chosen to race around the world during the pandemic pic.twitter.com/j9FAg5l64g
— Formula Money (@FormulaMoney) March 11, 2020
Should Formula One cancel or postpone more races, refunds may need to be made to race promoters, sponsors, broadcast partners and potentially compensation to teams.
Logically, more races should have been postponed, but could the share price survive another similar drop and, if Formula One could not survive this, how could Formula E and MotoGP?
The expenses for the above championships are far lower than Formula One. Formula E costs are a fraction of those involved in competing in F1 due to teams not having the development costs on their chassis, and while MotoGP teams do have this expense, the money involved is still minuscule compared to F1.
A factory MotoGP bike cost in the region of $3.5 million to rent for a season. In comparison, it was calculated that the cost of a 2018 Formula One car, without development or any other costs attached, stood at $15.5 million.
With this level of investment, postponing a race as a precaution of something that might happen is not on the agenda of Formula One or Liberty Media.
At present, large-scale gatherings - those of over 1,000 people - have been banned in Austria, Italy, France and Spain, bans that will remain in place until at least the end of March.
With Formula One due to return to Spain at the beginning of May, Liberty Media and Formula One will be hoping that Europe can have a handle on the pandemic, otherwise further damaging postponements could be forthcoming.
Remove money from the equation and Formula One would be treating the situation with the same view as the International Olympic Committee or UEFA, both of whom are considering the postponement of flagship events the Olympic Games and the European Cup.
Sadly, money rules and, while - as fans of the sport - we all want to see wall to wall racing, Formula One stands almost alone as a sport willing to put money ahead of the health of both participants and spectators alike.
It is unclear how the test results of those three personnel, two from Haas and one from McLaren, will affect the coming weekend in Australia, but the likelihood is that the show will go on.
The question originally posed here was, Is Formula One treating the coronavirus pandemic seriously enough? Put simply, no, in which case, the followup question must be asked - why? The answer to this question is as simple as the original one - money.
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
Horner under ‘pressure’ following nightmare Red Bull result
- 9 minutes ago
Norris BAFFLED by Verstappen snitching verdict
- 1 hour ago
Hamilton Ferrari debut CONFIRMED after huge FIA announcement
- 2 hours ago
British F1 star makes history at Azerbaijan Grand Prix
- 3 hours ago
Singapore Grand Prix weather forecast - latest today from Marina Bay
- 3 hours ago
Power Rankings - Red Bull lose out to McLaren twice in disaster Baku weekend
- Today 15:57
F1 Race Calendar 2024
-
GP AUSTRALIA
22 - 24 Mar
Carlos Sainz
-
GP JAPAN
5 - 7 Apr
Max Verstappen
-
GP CHINA
19 - 21 Apr
Max Verstappen
-
GP USA
3 - 5 May
Lando Norris
-
GP ITALY
17 - 19 May
Max Verstappen
-
GP MONACO
24 - 26 May
Charles Leclerc
-
GP CANADA
7 - 9 Jun
Max Verstappen
-
GP SPAIN
21 - 23 Jun
Max Verstappen
-
GP AUSTRIA
28 - 30 Jun
George Russell
-
GP GREAT BRITAIN
5 - 7 Jul
Lewis Hamilton
-
GP HUNGARY
19 - 21 Jul
Oscar Piastri
-
GP BELGIUM
26 - 28 Jul
Lewis Hamilton
-
GP NETHERLANDS
23 - 25 Aug
Lando Norris
-
GP ITALY
30 Aug - 1 Sep
Charles Leclerc
-
GP AZERBAIJAN
13 - 15 Sep
Oscar Piastri
- GP SINGAPORE 20 - 22 Sep
- GP USA 18 - 20 Oct
- GP MEXICO 25 - 27 Oct
- GP BRAZIL 1 - 3 Nov
Related news
'Disaster waiting to happen': F1 star demands FIA safety OVERHAUL after terrifying crash
F1 pundit claims Mercedes HARSHLY treated by rivals
Kravitz attacked with CAKE in Ferrari celebrations
Perez makes HUGE Verstappen claim to give rivals title hope
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Franco Alejandro Colapinto
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Oliver Bearman
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- AWS Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860