JANUARY 17, 2022

F1 makes covid vaccination mandatory in 2022

Formula 1 personnel, including the drivers, must have received covid-19 vaccines in order to race and work at the circuits in 2022.

Formula 1 personnel, including the drivers, must have received covid-19 vaccines in order to race and work at the circuits in 2022.

We reported recently that, amid the incredible saga surrounding world number 1 tennis player Novak Djokovic's deportation from Australia, mandatory vaccination was also on the cards for Formula 1.

That has indeed now been pushed through the FIA's World Motor Sport Council, according to F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali.

"One of the last things approved in the last World Council was, as a precaution, to vaccinate all F1 staff to be in the paddock," he is quoted by the Spanish sports daily Marca.

With a mandatory policy, F1 should be able to navigate the sort of restrictions that are in place in Australia and also elsewhere on the 23-strong 2022 calendar.

Domenicali said: "Vaccines and boosters are our way out of this pandemic, and we have to keep everyone safe and move forward together.

"I have been vaccinated and boosted and I ask everyone to do the same. Formula 1 is moving forward and we ask that everyone do their part."

(GMM)