23/10/2020
NEWS STORY
To paraphrase Oscar Wilde's Lady Bracknell, 'to have one of your drivers test positive for the virus is a misfortune, to have both looks like carelessness'. And that appears to be McLaren boss, Zak Brown's opinion of Racing Point's approach to virus protocols.
"At McLaren, we put our people first and foremost, we won't take any risks, we won't gamble," the American told reporters at today's official press conference.
"We recognise how dangerous this is," he continued, "and want to make sure everyone stays healthy, continue to put on Grands Prix.
"The sport has done a good job, there has been more cases, Racing Point being most visible recently. We do a tremendous amount of testing, we take full precaution," he added.
"I think we all need to look after each other's back. If I look at the Racing Point incidents, I would probably test anyone who isn't feeling well daily.
"In Australia, we had someone who didn't feel well," he recalled of the season opener which was subsequently abandoned. "Andreas and I aren't doctors but we took a quick decision to isolate. Once the test came back positive, we isolated the team. Ultimately we knew it would shut us down for the race.
"I know the doctor didn't think a test was positive," he said of Lance Stroll's test at the Nurburgring when the Canadian complained of feeling unwell, "maybe in hindsight, that should have been different.
"I don't know who the doctor is," he added. "I don't know if it was Dr Mallya, Dr Seuss, or maybe it was Dr Dre."
Ouch!
"Maybe next time around, we should be testing when anyone has any sorts of symptoms because we know how dangerous this is," he said. "I do know that when we had our issue in Australia, we communicated it very quickly to everyone, as we have a moral obligation to people's health.
"I don't know the details, I just know what I read and see," he said of Racing Point, "and it looks like there wasn't immediate transparency.
"For an entity that tests as much as they do, all I know, we would be testing anyone at McLaren who doesn't feel well daily, to make sure that person is healthy and not transmitting, and then would isolate anyone who is around them immediately."
Check out our Friday gallery from Portimao, here.