Contract talk 'empty' amid crisis

Daniil Kvyat

(GMM) Daniil Kvyat says any talk about the future for Formula 1 drivers is on hold for the corona crisis.

The Alpha Tauri driver is regularly linked with a potential return to the top Red Bull team, but he says any contract talk right now is "empty".

"If they are talking with confidence about the start dates in Austria, then that is confidence that everything will be fine," the Russian told Championat.

"But the important thing is not what you want, but what happens when we start the season. It is necessary that the championship begins first. Until that happens, any talk about contracts is empty. We need to be patient.

"I know that everyone has a lot of questions, and I do too. But now everything is on pause," said Kvyat, who is riding out the crisis in Monaco.

The Austrian season openers aside, talks within Formula 1 are ongoing. F1 sporting boss Ross Brawn says the budget cap will be reduced to $145m for 2021 "and discussions are on (about) how to drive this down".

But Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said reducing the cap is "opportunism" amid the crisis.

"Ferrari report one set of accounts for their entire business, across road cars and F1. How on earth are you going to unpick that?" he told the Telegraph.

Like Kvyat, he said the first step is to get the sport up and running again.

"If a racing series does not exist for a year, then it disappears in its entirety," said Horner.

So for now, all eyes are on Red Bull – the Austrian GP promoter – and the country's authorities.

"In Austria, the politicians and Red Bull are doing everything to make sure the races can take place safely for everyone involved," former driver Ralf Schumacher told Kolner Express. "I hope it works."