The British Grand Prix faces being cancelled for the first time since 1948 due to the Government’s new quarantine rules for overseas arrivals.

Home Secretary Priti Patel announced yesterday that from June 8 all UK arrivals will be forced to quarantine for two weeks.

This presents a major problem for the Formula 1 teams as they will be arriving after the Austrian Grand Prix, less than two weeks before the weekend at Silverstone gets underway.

And F1 managing director Ross Brawn has previously gone on record as saying even if one team has problems getting to a race then it cannot count towards the rest of the season.

He said: "If a team is prevented from entering a country, we can't have a race. Not a Formula One world championship race, anyway, because that would be unfair."

Therefore, F1 organisers will now have to press the UK government to make exemptions for all F1 drivers and staff to ensure the event goes ahead without a hitch.

However, Patel was unwavering in her belief that this will be a strict measure moving forward for those entering Britain.

On Friday, she said: "We do not take this step lightly. Our freedom has sadly but necessarily been curtailed.

"With so much having been done to push down the rate of infection, any new arrivals entering the country with this disease will have a much bigger impact.

"We will not allow a small and reckless minority to endanger us all."

The 2020 F1 season has been significantly pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The first race of the season is now due to be the Austrian GP on July 5, before drivers hope to travel to Britain to continue the racing calendar.

It is thought that the season will now run deep into 2020 and could even extend to early 2021 to ensure as many races as possible are included.