Baku, March 10, AZERTAC

Formula One’s Bahrain Grand Prix will run this month without spectators as the island kingdom fights an outbreak of the new coronavirus, organizers announced Sunday.

The extraordinary decision by Bahrain to hold an only televised race March 22 is just the latest disruption felt by the Mideast over the virus and the COVID-19 illness it causes and the second for F1.

Already, April’s scheduled Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai has been postponed.