JANUARY 14, 2022

F1 eyeing mandatory covid vaccination

Formula 1 looks set to mandate covid-19 vaccination for all drivers and personnel ahead of the 2022 season.

Formula 1 looks set to mandate covid-19 vaccination for all drivers and personnel ahead of the 2022 season.

Amid the bizarre saga surrounding world tennis number 1 Novak Djokovic's entry to Australia and attempt to compete in the forthcoming Australian Open, F1 is also not immune to vaccine-related controversy.

Formula 1 is also set to return to Melbourne after a two-year hiatus for the covid crisis this year, where the Victorian state government is requiring all international athletes to be fully vaccinated.

"We know that in some places, in some countries, in some events, mandatory vaccination is moving forward," F1 governing body the FIA's director of operations Bruno Famin is quoted by DPA news agency.

"It's something we could consider, but nothing has been decided at the moment."

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is hoping Formula 1 and the world begins to put the covid crisis in the past in 2022.

He said his children's schooling was badly affected by restrictions.

"These children have of course been robbed of very important years," the Austrian told FAZ newspaper.

"It was a silent suffering for them, and we will only be able to better assess the social and emotional consequences in many years.

"We're not out of it yet, but I hope that these scars will heal too," said Wolff.

(GMM)