All aboard as F1 circus

TRANS-Siberian Express? Ferry from Spain? Train from Turkey? Formula One is considering all the options to beat the volcanic ash and get back to Europe from China.

For once the talk around the paddock at the Chinese Grand Prix was not of F-Ducts or soft compound tyres but of the Icelandic volcano that has shut down much of European airspace and threatens to strand the sport in Shanghai.

“It will be a challenge, but we’ll find a way, even if it is the trans-Siberian railway,” said McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh

“We are not so much worried about the people because we will find a way home, but we have got to get the cars back, and we haven’t had any word yet from the freight.”

The next race is on 9 May in Barcelona. Alan Woollard, the freight manager for Formula One Management and responsible for getting the some 700 tons of cars and equipment around the world, remains cheerfully phlegmatic.

“If you had to pick a time for this to happen, it would be just before a three-week break,” he said. “We’ll get the stuff to the airport tonight and hopefully in a week, the airways will be cleared and we can fly it out then. If it gets much past that, then we’ll consider taking it straight to Barcelona for the next race.

“I don’t know why everyone’s getting so excited about it, there’s nothing we can do.”

Although the next race is not for three weeks, most teams had planned major improvements to their cars before the run of three races in Europe.

“We have a range of upgrades that we hope to put on for Barcelona so that could be a bit chaotic if we don’t get the freight back,” said Whitmarsh.

F1 freight is transported on charter flights, with six Boeing 747s carrying the cars. It is not just the equipment but also drivers, team personnel, officials and media who are facing a long wait in Shanghai. One journalist had found a route via New York, Portugal, Spain and then a ferry to Britain, another was considering a journey that would involve a train ride to Britain from Turkey.

Although there will undoubtedly be personal inconvenience for many, both Woollard and Whitmarsh appealed for perspective.

“Last time this happened it went on for two years, they tell me,” said Whitmarsh of the last Eyjafjallajokull eruption in the 1820s. “So I’m sure the tribulations of McLaren and Formula One are pretty small by comparison to what will happen if this goes on for two years.”