The drivers have absolutely nothing from Barcelona this time. The Formula 1 bubble ventures into the risk area Catalonia. The drivers come to terms with the circumstances in the Corona period.
Barcelona (AP) - One reads, the other plays and another grills. Formula 1 life on the racetrack, weekend trips in motorhomes and luxury caravans. No big journey, no big departure to work. Wake up, get dressed, have breakfast, go racing.
It has something of camping romance. If the reason for this were not so serious: The Foreign Office has warned against traveling to Catalonia, among other places. Formula 1 is still competing in the risk area, the Spanish Grand Prix around 30 kilometers from Barcelona is in full swing.
Sebastian Vettel did not arrive on Thursday morning via the Catalan metropolis, but via Girona northeast, about 60 kilometers from the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. From there it went straight to the track. And Vettel will stay on the track until the sixth Grand Prix in the Corona emergency season is over. If he has time besides racing and the meetings with the engineers, Vettel reads. What, the 33-year-old four-time Formula 1 world champion doesn't want to reveal anything.
The return regulations to the Swiss adopted home should no longer be, Vettel knows them. According to them, the father of three would have to go into quarantine for ten days. Problem: In a week and a half the departure for the race in Spa-Francorchamps is due again. So Vettel will not travel home after the Spain run.
The British in the limited, but still large, group of Formula 1 or the teams that are based in England, such as Mercedes or Red Bull, are allowed to return with a special permit despite actual quarantine regulations.
For the premier class, it is the end of the second three-pack - three races on three consecutive weekends. The employees, the drivers - they have all been living in a bubble since the start of the season in early July, around four months after the originally planned start, in order to keep the risk of infection with the Sars-CoV-2 virus as low as possible. Teams and drivers should also have as little contact as possible with one another. Sergio Perez, who was missing in the last two races, is now back after a negative Corona result.
Some live in the hotel, but others like Vettel or Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas have made themselves comfortable on the track. Like last time at Silverstone. What happened there, told Bottas to the great amusement of Hamilton. "Roscoe left a lot in front of my door," said the Finn, also clearly amused, describing the events of last Saturday. "A present," joked Hamilton back with a hearty laugh, "one every day."
The English bulldog sleeps in the living room, said Hamilton from his track camper life. To pass the time, the 35-year-old Brit has his travel music set and a game console with him. The other day, he said, he also played with Vettel's team-mate Charles Leclerc. Vettel probably preferred to read there.
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