F1 must not rush return despite “painful” absence - Vettel

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel insists Formula 1 must be “patient” with its return to racing despite admitting it is “painful” not to be competing amid the current coronavirus-related hiatus.

The ongoing global COVID-19 crisis has decimated the start of the 2020 F1 season and resulted in the postponement or cancellation of the opening nine races.

F1 bosses are currently assessing how to get the campaign off the ground as soon as possible in a bid to ensure a valid world championship of at least eight rounds is completed this year.

Speaking during a video conference with selected media from his home in Switzerland, Vettel said he is eager to get back to his day job.

“What we would all like is to get back to normal,” the four-time world champion said.

“Not just for Formula 1 but for everybody’s sake and the whole world - but as I said previously in this regard the best prescription will be to be patient.

“It is painful because I want to get back in the car and if I’m selfish I want to race, but there’s a lot of people that would like a lot of things right now compared to the situation they’re in now.

“Probably at the very beginning the first couple of races will be compromised compared to what we’re used to but hopefully not too much because obviously we want to race in a way that we are all familiar with, meaning in front of crowds, in front of fans, with great atmosphere and so on. We will see.”

Vettel, who is a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA), shared how he believes F1 needs to handle a return to racing and said drivers have been discussing the subject “a fair amount”.

“We have spoken about that a fair amount inside the GPDA,” he explained. “It’s a very, very difficult one. It’s a tough decision.

“On the one hand you have the health of the sport if you look at it from a business aspect, on another hand you have the responsibility of the people in the paddock - the working people inside the paddock - and of course most importantly the fans.

“It’s a sport that is carried out in the open but we have a lot of people that normally come to watch our races. We need to make sure that as much as we are taking care of ourselves we are also taking care of the public.

“Now, there’s a lot of options you can think of in terms of how to get going again, what’s the best format to start racing again. Whether it’s without fans, whether it’s with fans, ghost races or no-ghost races and other things, I don’t know.

“I think nobody likes to race in front of empty grandstands, it feels a bit odd, but on the other hand the question is when is the right time to sort of say let’s start racing again and whether a ghost race can be held much sooner than a race in a way that we’re used to it.”