OFFICIAL: 2020 Australian Grand Prix canceled

La F1 will have tried until the end to maintain the Australian Grand Prix but she had to face the facts and fall under the banner of reason.

Formula 1 and the FIA, with the full support of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation (AGPC), have taken the decision that all Formula 1 activity for the Australian Grand Prix is ​​canceled pic.twitter.com/rHbc7hlNvH

- Formula 1 (@ F1) March 12, 2020

Since the start of the week, the atmosphere has been strange in Melbourne. The now pandemic of Coronavirus has entered conversations as quickly as the disease spreads across the world. From Wednesday, the traditional installation day, the appearance of suspected cases among Haas et McLaren eclipsed the good humor that usually reigns in the aisles of Albert Park.

Back in the paddock on Thursday, TV interviews had been canceled, while security perimeters were set up around drivers and team managers, who politely refused selfies, autographs, and any other form of close contact.

And the news of the positive test at McLaren broke at 22 p.m.. Woking and its general manager Zak Brown showed courage and firmness by immediately deciding to withdraw from the opening event of the 2020 season.

We would have liked to find such qualities within the governing bodies of F1, the FIA, and the Australian authorities. We will ultimately have to wait more than half a day for confirmation that the first GP of the season was canceled.

We naively believed that such a decision would be taken in the wake of the McLaren press release. The main teams from the other teams met quickly, officials from the state of Victoria and the promoter spoke with F1 and the FIA. From words to palavers, we found ourselves in the middle of the night with contradictory information and the greatest artistic vagueness, a symbol of crisis management that bordered on amateurism.

However, the decision seemed obvious on paper, not only in view of the health risks but also because Ross Brawn, sporting director of F1, had declared ahead of the campaign that the presence of the 10 teams was required for an event to count in the framework of the world championship.

However, we can qualify our judgment somewhat and understand that such a cancellation, so close to the event, causes a real legal headache for the organizers. This does not excuse the lack of preparation in advance.

On Thursday, Guenther Steiner, Haas team principal, blandly affirmed that no action plan had been put in place in the event of a positive Coronavirus test among the teams, notably his own where 4 members were suspected of having contracted the disease . “We will solve the problem when we face it”, said the Italian manager whose employees were ultimately tested negative.  

It was finally around 10 a.m. Friday morning, just a few hours before the opening of the Albert Park circuit to the public and the first free practice sessions, that the cancellation was made official.

The 2020 Australian Grand Prix will therefore not take place, a first for F1 since the Bahrain round in 2011, abandoned due to a popular uprising in the country. The Persian Gulf Kingdom is also still supposed to host F1 next week (March 20 – 22), during an event held behind closed doors, but it is difficult to imagine that the Bahraini round could take place considering given the different periods of isolation to be observed for certain McLaren members, not to mention the drastic tests on arrival.

Uncertainty also hangs over Hanoi, where the first Vietnamese Grand Prix in history is due to take place from April 3 to 5. Chase Carey was in the Vietnamese capital this week to play firefighter on duty and chat with race promoters. An announcement is expected soon.

It is hoped that the sport's governing bodies will then demonstrate a better sense of anticipation to avoid having to play Russian roulette with a pistol with a full magazine.