F1 puts some staff on furlough, execs take pay cuts

With nearly half of season already altered by coronavirus pandemic, Formula One said Wednesday it will furlough half of its staff until end of May and senior executives will take pay cuts.F1 called off last month's Australian Grand Prix and has postponed seven more races so far this season. Monaco Grand Prix was canceled outright. More postponements are likely to turn into cancellations, but F1 has said it is still hoping to st between 15 and 18 races out of original 22.

F1 said senior leadership figures will take “voluntary pay cuts while still continuing to work and t in furlough," and that CEO Chase Carey will take a “much deeper” pay cut. McLaren and Williams teams had already put some staff on furlough schemes. McLaren drivers Lando rris and Carlos Sainz have also taken pay cuts. season is currently scheduled to begin in France on June 28, but each missed race hits teams' earnings from sponsorship and or commercial activities.

That's a challenge for all teams, but even more so for those which don't have backing of a major car manufacturer like Ferrari or Mercedes, or a multinational company like Red Bull. F1's business model has proved more vulnerable than most sports to disruption caused by coronavirus. Even if races are held without fans, y still require teams to fly in hundreds of staff from around world who often work on cars in cramped pit-lane conditions. Mass events of various kinds are banned in many of countries which host F1 races.

That vulnerability was exposed last month when Australian Grand Prix was called off hours before Friday practice was due to begin. That was after McLaren withdrew when one of its staff members tested positive for virus. Even if F1 does find eugh time to schedule 18 races around world, that would be shortest season since 2009. A 15-race season would be shortest since 1981.