F1 must get 'creative' amid pandemic

Nico Rosberg knows F1 is reaching for straws

Nico Rosberg has urged Formula 1 to get "creative" amid the coronavirus crisis.

So far in this unprecedented situation, the messages are mixed.

MotoGP admits the entire championship may be cancelled, Chase Carey wants to organize as many as 18 grands prix, and UFC boss Dana White claims to have secured a private island on which to hold professional fights.

2016 world champion Rosberg thinks there may be ways for F1 to eventually restart.

"Maybe they can get a little bit creative and do doubleheader weekends where perhaps on a Saturday they go one way around the racetrack and the other way around on Sunday," he told Deutsche Welle.

"It helps that we can hold races without spectators. That will allow some races to happen sooner, because that will allow us to race even with the limitations of not having more than 100 people in one place," said the former Mercedes driver.

"So that's a little advantage."

Behind the scenes, the sport's figures are frantically scrambling to handle the crisis.

"The biggest issue at the moment is the financial situation for some of the smaller teams because the F1 circus needs all teams to participate," said Rosberg.

"If two or three smaller teams drop out, then it's not really a great sport anymore because there's just not enough teams competing and not enough teams on the grid."

However, the big teams have so far not agreed with proposals to drop the 2021 budget cap to as little as $100 million or even $125 million, and Red Bull's idea of further delaying the new rules until 2023 has been dismissed.

Rosberg said: "A lot of revenues will be lost, but at the same time, they have already implemented measures to save a lot of money.

"Development has been halted and postponed, so that's going to save a lot of money. And they're in discussions for many other things. They're doing the right things."