Formula One officials have postponed the Bahrain and Vietnam Grands Prix. (Steve Etherington photo)

F-1 Postpones Bahrain & Vietnam Grands Prix

PARIS – FIA and Formula One officials have announced the decision to postpone the Bahrain and Vietnam Grands Prix in response to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

The Bahrain Grand Prix was originally scheduled for March 20-22 at the Bahrain Int’l Circuit and the Vietnam Grand Prix was slated to take place April 3-5 at the Hanoi Circuit.

With the postponements, that means the first four rounds of the Formula One season have either been canceled or postponed due to the coronavirus. The Australian Grand Prix, scheduled for this weekend, was canceled and the Chinese Grand Prix, slated for April 17-19, was postponed.

Formula One and FIA officials hope to reschedule the events in Bahrain and Vietnam, but no dates have been decided upon.

Pending any further postponements or cancellations, Formula One will open its season in May with the Dutch Grand Prix at Circuit Zandvoort.