Formula 1 is doing the best job possible amid an🐬 “incredibly difficult situation” with ♐the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, according to William deputy team principal Claire Williams.

The championship is pressing ahead with the season-opening Australian Grand Prix despi🌃te the coronavirus pandemic which has already resulted in a number of worldwide sporting eveཧnts being either postponed or cancelled altogether.

Australian Grand Prix organisers are working closely with F1 in a bid to safeguard the F1 paddock and community by implementing a host of precautionary measures in Melb🧸ourne, a𒁃nd Williams backed how the situation has been handled so far.

“I think it’s an incredibly difficult situation,” Williams ಞsaid.

"I think for any business in whatever industry꧋ that you’re🐈 operating in it’s incredibly hard to handle it.

“I❀ think that they’ve done the best job that they possibly can to act responsibly and to do what’s required, but it’s obviously such a fluid situation that it’s not an easy thing to have to manage.”

﷽Five members of F1 personnel - including four Haas and one McLaren team members - are currently self-isolating as they await test results for coronavirus, which are expected to come on Thursday.

Not everyone has been supportive of F1’s decision to go racing in Australia, with reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton saying he is “very surprised” the Melbourne rou൲nd is꧟ still taking place.

Williams admits she fears the prospect of a numbe🐲r of F1 race cancellations and subs𝔉equent prolonged break would impact on the financial situation of her team.

“We’re obviously - like F1, like everybody and every responsible business - monitorin🍷g the situ🎃ation incredibly closely,” Williams explained.

"Obviously we’ve got a steering committee at Williams that has been in place for a couple of months now🌠 to make sure that we are acting responsibly and safeguarding everybody that works at Williams doing what we need to do baseꦬd on the World Health Organisation’s guidance, and that’s all we can do at this stage.

“We have not got a case at Williams, we haven’t, but we’ve got to make sure tha🅠t we safeguard our business, and that comes in a variety 🧸of different ways,” she added.

“Through ensuring that we’ve got the capability for remote working should we need to send our people home. I s🅷uppose the main consideration for any teℱam is around manufacturing, because you can’t manufacturer parts at home, so if we have to shut down our factory, that could be incredibly difficult.

“You’ve still got wages to pay. You are spending less, but most teams, their wage bill is the largest proportion of their mo💦nthly expenditure.”