Maranello closes its doors, Ferrari’s F1 department at a standstill

Even more than France, Italy is strongly impacted by this Coronavirus epidemic. In order to protect its employees, the company has decided to shut down its factory in Maranello. This closure affects the assembly department of its production cars as well as its Formula 1 sector. Ferrari had tried to continue assembling its supercars by disinfecting the production lines, but the current situation in Italy has forced the brand to close its doors.

It is through a press release that Ferrari announced the closure of its two factories in Maranello and Modena until March 27. However, this closure may be extended if the situation does not improve in Italy. For its part, Scuderia Ferrari announces that certain measures have been implemented to facilitate remote work for its employees on the 2020 single-seater.

It seems, however, evident that this shutdown of the factories will impact the research and work of the team on its single-seater. This closure unfortunately occurs at a pivotal time for the brand, which hoped to increase its sales and revenue in the year 2020.

But then what should the Formula 1 teams do? Following the cancellation of the Melbourne Grand Prix, most teams have imposed a 14-day confinement period on their employees before they can return to work in their factories. However, do the teams have the right to work on their cars as they would during the regular season, or should the FIA impose a pause period similar to that during the summer break? For now, the factories located in England will remain open (Mercedes, Red Bull, etc.). This situation of uncertainty is expected to continue until the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on June 7th.

For their part, the Agnelli family, owners of Ferrari among others, has donated 10 million Euros to the Italian civil protection to support them during this time of crisis.