Formula One’s Australian Grand Prix cancelled amid coronavirus fears

[Siobhan Halo]

Formula One’s Australian Grand Prix cancelled amid coronavirus fears

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Fans arriving found they were not allowed to enter the track while only members of five teams turned up at the paddock. Further confusion was spread when Victoria state premier Daniel Andrews said on Friday morning that the if the race was to be held, it would have to do so behind closed doors. Yet at this point it is understood that at least two drivers, Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, had already flown home.

With no official statements forthcoming, fans in large numbers were already gathering to enter Albert Park but being refused entry by staff with little or no information to guide them.

No explanation has been given for why the decision to finally close down the race took so long, or why so little information was disseminated in the interim. It appears possible that reaching agreement on who was to take responsibility for the cancellation – between state authorities, organisers, the FIA and F1 – may have contributed to the longevity of the process.

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[Kairi HoHo]

Yeah when Nascar cancelled their events I knew F1 would do the same. Shame because after seeing Season 2 of Drive to Survive on Netflix I was mega hype for this Weekend.

[UMJI MOODS]

Would have been a real danger with that many people there. 

[eunheart]

Sounds like the FIA management team is handling this poorly. While the way they took the preventive measure on their staffs seems to be fairly done, it shows that pretty much nothing is being done on the audience side. It seems like a poor handling to me. They could have use their PR / media team to relay better communication though. I'm pretty surprised to read this.