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Several teams still marooned in Shanghai

As the lifting of flying restrictions in Europe begins to clear the backlog of stranded travellers, it appears most of the Force India and HRT teams are still stranded in Shanghai.

Many teams and their crucial F1 freight and cars are now arriving back in Europe. Red Bull's Christian Horner said the air travel delays will have little effect on the team's plans for Barcelona, while Lotus' Mike Gascoyne said planned developments for Spain will be applied "to both cars". McLaren's Martin Whitmarsh was more worried about the delay, explaining that if it (the delay) is a week or so ... it will become an issue".

But a Force India spokeswoman said in Shanghai on Thursday that while the drivers are back in Europe, "the majority of the team" is still in China. She told Reuters that they are hoping for their charter to leave "at some point tomorrow".

Indian rookie Karun Chandhok, who flew straight from Shanghai to his Indian home, also revealed that most of the HRT team is still in China, amid reports that hundreds of other F1-related personnel are in a similar situation and face waits for flights that could extend well into the weekend.

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