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An app has been launched with the sole aim of helping fans, teams, race organisers, and sponsors safely attend F1 grands prix amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The app, the Guestia Digital Event and Travel Companion, allows teams and organisers to manage and mitigate risks arising from the COVID-19 pandemic on race weekends.

READ: Vettel Pleaded With Ferrari To Pit Sooner At Russian GP

The Guestia app relies on users filling in a health assessment and self-reporting symptoms as soon as they begin to show.

“The app boasts an extensive suite of tools which includes the Guestia Health Hub, allowing users and organisers to record temperature measurements, self-report symptoms, provide COVID-19 test results, contact details, record quarantine periods and more,” the creators of the app outlined in a press release.

The Guestia Health Hub is built on the existing Guestia travel platform and mobile app, which is already being used by the McLaren F1 team. 

Mark Norris, McLaren Racing’s race operations director, said: “The Guestia App allows our travel team to plan all individual travel and logistical arrangements for our racing team.”

Continuing, he said the app improves real-time intra-team communication, “enabling us to update them [team members] quickly and effectively, keeping their health and safety a priority.”  

Meanwhile, Nigel Essam, commercial director at Guestia, stressed that the app is the first of its kind and described it as the “ideal solution for the events and hospitality sector to be able to safely re-introduce guests back to motorsport.”

“Organisers can offer paperless travel and event itineraries, individualised to guests whilst all data received is securely stored and fully GDPR compliant. The app can be fully branded to customer requirements,” Essam added.

F1 fans are slowly returning to the grandstands, with a small number of spectators allowed to watch the inaugural Tuscan Grand Prix at Mugello and circa 30,000 fans attending the Russian GP a few days ago.

Apps like Guestia’s offering should help race organisers and teams better manage and mitigate the risks of COVID-19, and in turn allow more and more spectators to attend Formula One grands prix.

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Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel finished the Russian Grand Prix sixth and 13th, respectively.

Vettel was struggling with the balance of his Ferrari SF1000 all weekend, but a compromised strategy also hurt him in the race.

READ: Ferrari Will Trial Aero Upgrades At Eifel Grand Prix

In a post-race interview at Sochi, Vettel accused the Scuderia of leaving him out to act as a “brake block” and hold up the two Renaults in a bid to help team-mate Charles Leclerc, who changed tyres much sooner than the German.

“It was clear I was left out to slow down the Renaults. It didn’t help me, of course. I think we could have taken a point but that doesn’t change much now,” Vettel said.

And, team radio now heard by Formula1News.co.uk confirms that Ferrari did indeed force him to stay out much longer than he wanted.

Vettel got on the radio to his race engineer several times, pleading with the team to let him pit for a fresh set of tyres.

“Might as well box. What do we lose if we box? What do we lose?” Vettel said, to which his race engineer replied “stay out for now, I’ll let you know.”

His engineer then repeatedly told the four-time World Champion to stay out.

“The tyres are gone. We need to box,” Vettel said, before Ferrari finally allowed him to pit.

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The three most promising drivers of the Ferrari Driver Academy – Mick Schumacher, Callum Ilott and Robert Shwartzman – will make their Formula One weekend debuts this year.

Schumacher, who currently leads the Formula Two Drivers’ Standings, will drive an Alfa Romeo in first practice at the upcoming Eifel Grand Prix, while Ilott will drive a Haas in the same session.

READ: Norris Unhappy With Sainz After Sochi Crash

Meanwhile, Shwartzman will have to wait until the first practice session of the final grand prix of the season in Abu Dhabi.

It’s not yet been confirmed which car he will drive, but it will be either an Alfa Romeo or a Haas, which are both Ferrari customer teams.

“I am overjoyed to get this chance in free practice. The fact that my first participation in a Formula 1 weekend will take place in front of my home audience at the Nurburgring makes this moment even more special,” Schumacher said.

“For the next ten days I’m going to prepare myself well, so that I can do the best possible job for the team and gain some valuable data for the weekend.”

Ilott, who’s currently second in the F2 standings, said the opportunity was a “real privilege”.

All three drivers are testing Ferrari’s 2018 F1 car at Fiorano today in preparation for their respective Formula One weekend debuts.

Schumacher looks set to make the jump into F1 next year, and there’s a good chance Ilott or Schwartzman could join him on the F1 grid in 2021.

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After putting in a strong qualifying performance on Saturday, Carlos Sainz cut his race short by crashing into the barrier at the exit of turn two on the opening lap of the Russian Grand Prix.

The Spaniard took full responsibility for the shunt and vowed to make amends at the upcoming Eifel Grand Prix.

READ: Ferrari Will Trial Aero Upgrades At Eifel Grand Prix

McLaren team-mate Lando Norris was unimpressed with Sainz after watching him crash out of the race and force the Brit to drive over debris which fell off his car.

“What’s Carlos doing? He’s trying to be a hero into turn one,” Norris said on the radio following the crash.

Norris stopped for tyres under the safety car following the incident, and he also had a race to forget, finishing well outside the points.

McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl described the race as “very disappointing” and said they will be looking to put in a strong performance in Germany, when Formula One returns to the Nurburgring in a fortnight.

“It’s a very disappointing Sunday afternoon for us, coming away from Russia with zero points,” Seidl said.

“Our race was pretty much over after two corners, with Carlos running into the barriers and then Lando having to take avoiding action, finishing up at the back of the field.”

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Sunday's Russian Grand Prix began with a bang – quite literally as first Carlos Sainz and then Lance Stroll had heavy crashes into the barriers within the first few corners of Lap 1. See how it all looked from onboard in this video.

Red Bull came away from the Russian Grand Prix pleased with their best F1 result at Sochi – third for Max Verstappen – but Alex Albon’s race contrasted heavily.

Despite bagging another points finish in the Russian Grand Prix, Pierre Gasly came away from Sochi somewhat disappointed with P9, after AlphaTauri's gamble to pit him during Virtual Safety Car period backfired.

Turn 2 at the Sochi Autodrom caused a stir in Sunday’s Russian Grand Prix, offering up a first-lap accident and leading to numerous penalties – and it must be looked at before next year's race.

Long mooted as a potential CEO of Formula 1, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has admitted he did have “initial discussions” about the role, but insisted that Stefano Domenicali – who was named as Chase Carey’s successor last week – is the right man for the job.

McLaren’s team boss Zak Brown says he has no doubts that Lando Norris is a “future world champion” in an interview for Issue 7 of The Official Formula 1 Magazine - which is out now. Brown also explains the reasons behind signing Daniel Ricciardo and McLaren’s plan to return to the top of Formula 1...

Schumacher will drive in FP1 for Alfa Romeo, while Ilott will do the same for Haas. Fellow FDA driver Robert Shwartzman will also get an FP1 outing at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

McLaren ended a long unbroken run of points scoring races in Russia as, for the first time since the 2019 Mexican Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris came away from the weekend without a top-10 finish between them – and it’s a result that has stung the team according to boss Andreas Seidl

Ferrari brought a raft of upgrades for their troublesome SF1000 car to the Russian Grand Prix, but did they work as the team hoped? Mark Hughes takes a close look, with technical illustrations from Giorgio Piola.

It’s not often you get a definitive moment in a Grand Prix before the lights have gone out, but that was the case in Russia, with Lewis Hamilton’s now infamous practice starts breach. Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, the Silver Arrows’ Chief Race Engineer Andrew Shovlin has explained the team’s role in the contentious incident, and how they weren’t clear who was first to spot the infringement…

Formula 1 drivers praised the performance of the TecPro barrier in the huge crash which brought Sunday's Formula 2 race to an early end.

In the round-up: Norris says he tried too hard to beat a car that's "a lot better than ours" • Promoter of failed Boston IndyCar race arrested • Win WRC 9 and a £600 BenQ simracing monitor

Ferrari will trial new aero upgrades at the Eifel Grand Prix in a fortnight, as the Scuderia looks to make its SF1000 more competitive and work its way back up the pecking order.

Specifically, they will test a new diffuser and floor at the Nurburgring in the hopes of improving rear downforce and stability, according to Auto Motor und Sport.

READ: 2022 Is Ferrari’s ‘Most Important Opportunity’ – Binotto

Earlier, Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto said 2022 is the Scuderia’s “most important opportunity”, as the shake-up of Formula One’s technical regulations will provide a lot of scope for them to produce a strong package.

Despite the Maranello-based team focussing on 2022, they are still hoping to make a significant step forward next year.

Ferrari’s new power unit, which can be used from 2021, could help the Italian manufacturer and its customer teams recover some of the ground they’ve lost this season.

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With Ferrari pondering the next steps for its F2 race winners, Schumacher will join Ilott in getting some running in first free practice at the Nurburgring.
Schumacher will drive for Alfa Romeo, taking Antonio Giovinazzi's cockpit while Ilott will take part in the practice session for Haas, replacing Romain Grosjean.
Robert Shwartzman will get a first free practice run in the F1 season ...Keep reading

However, on a weekend when Ferrari introduced some minor updates that it hopes will help unlock more performance from its car in the future, some of the finer aspects of its SF1000 were spotted after Sebastian Vettel crashed in qualifying.
With the front wing ripped from his car, it offered onlookers a chance to stop aspects of its complex nose and cape area that were not so obvious ...Keep reading

Alex Albon's Russian Grand Prix struggles were made worse by the Sochi circuit layout exaggerating the difficulties he has with Red Bull's Formula 1 car, says team boss Christian Horner