Formula One considering mandatory vaccinations for 2022

PARIS: Vaccination against the coronavirus could be obligatory in the Formula One paddock from the 2022 season, the chief executive Stefano Domenicali told autosport magazine.

"Having finished a season with 22 races, it makes us cautiously optimistic for what the start of the 2022 season should be like, where alas Covid may still be present," F1 chief Domenicali said.

"But it is no coincidence that one of the last things approved in the last FIA World Council, as a precaution, is to have all F1 staff vaccinated to be in the paddock.”

F1 hosted the curtailed 2020 season and all of the last campaign under coronavirus conditions, posing huge logistical challenges for a sport which crosses borders every two to three weeks.

The next term is due to begin with the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 20 with the traditional season-opener in Australia, which retains strict entry requirements and quarantine rules, delayed to April.