Formula 1: Daniel Ricciardo whisked away amid virus fears

Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo was “excused” from a media event on Wednesday amid the growing coronavirus concerns

Daniel Ricciardo posed with his Renault Formula One car before being whisked away

Red Bull Racing is taking no chances with the health of its drivers at this week’s Australian Grand Prix, limiting human contact amid the global coronavirus crisis.

Precautions were put in place for drivers Max Verstappen and Alex Albon at a media call at Melbourne’s Station Pier on Wednesday as reporters and photographers were told to keep a two metre buffer from the Formula One stars.

The coronavirus outbreak continues to wreak havoc in sport around the world — and increasingly in Australia. Melbourne’s AAMI Park was shut down on Wednesday for a high-level cleaning response after confirmation a fan who attended last Saturday’s Melbourne Rebels game had contracted coronavirus.

And the English Premier League match between Manchester and Arsenal due to be played early on Thursday (AEDT) was postponed after Arsenal players came into contact with Olympiakos owner Evangelos Marinakis, who has tested positive to COVID-19.

Max Verstappen and Red Bull teammate Alexander Albon in Melbourne

On Wednesday, Verstappen conducted interviews with a bottle of hand sanitiser at his feet and said handshakes would be a no-go during the opening race of the season.

“Of course, it’s all tricky at the moment but we are trying to make the best of it and try to get on with the start of the season and hopefully we have an exciting weekend,” Verstappen said.

“You try to do the whole week as normal as possible, but of course like we are doing at the moment, you try to take a little bit of a precaution. A lot of (hand sanitiser) gel. Try to limit a bit (of) human contact, of course. Not really (handshakes). I think that’s the most sensible thing to do at the moment.”

The coronavirus has already forced the postponement of April’s Chinese Grand Prix, while the Bahrain Grand Prix, second on the calendar after Melbourne, will be staged without spectators.

Making a return to the Formula One calendar, the Dutch Grand Prix is now scheduled to be the fourth race of the season in early May. But Verstappen said he had not given any thought to the prospect of his home race in front of his legion of Dutch fans being affected.

“I just honestly try not to think that far ahead. I think it’s more important to focus on what is happening right now,” Verstappen said. “It’s of course, very serious, but let’s see what happens in the coming months. It already impacted the championship, but I just hope it’s not a lot more. It’s not in our hands.”

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Verstappen admitted it would be strange racing without spectators in Bahrain. “I have not experienced that before in my life so I think it is going to be new for everyone,” he said.

Verstappen’s Thai teammate Albon admitted there was a lot of uncertainty for the championship. “We’ve already seen China (postponed). It is very uncertain the future of what is going to happen,” he said. “It is clearly a very serious topic and the team, as well as us (drivers), we are taking serious measures towards it.”

Albon, entering his second Formula One season after a mid-season promotion to Red Bull last year, said it would be a fine balance between protecting the drivers and teams and giving something to the fans at this weekend’s opening race at Albert Park.

“It’s going to be different,” Albon said. “I’m not sure what has been put in place to be honest with you, but hopefully we can find the right balance between the drivers and the teams the safety because it is obviously a serious problem and giving something to the fans to be able to interact with us in some way.”

Earlier Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo and his Renault teammate Esteban Ocon were “excused” from a scheduled media event.

Ricciardo and Ocon were scheduled to join a media conference after the team’s livery reveal and partnership announcement at Melbourne’s Albert Park track.

But after posing for photographs on stage, the pair was whisked away by minders keen to protect them from the virus.

Renault principal Cyril Abiteboul said the team had no choice but to withdraw Ricciardo and Ocon from the media event.

“Our drivers were supposed to be with us for this event but due to the situation we’ve excused them for the occasion,” Abiteboul said. “I hope you understand why we are taking such measures.”

HERALD SUN