The F1 Australian GP has been called-off after McLaren decided to pull out when one of its team member was diagnosed with COVID-19.
F1 forced to take a decision after being rocked by one positive case of COVID-19 which resulted in a withdrawal of McLaren from the Australian GP at Albert Park circuit. Questions were raised by all before the event for it happening .
As per the latest information, a total of nine personnel were tested for COVID-19, of which four were from Haas, one from McLaren and four others. Among them, one from the British F1 team tested positive which forced them to withdraw from Australian GP.
Seven were cleared while the test result of the ninth is still pending. The decision of McLaren resulted in an urgent meeting among the teams, drivers, the FIA and the promoters of Australian GP, with regarding to the future of the F1 race.
Not only Australia but questions have been raised for Bahrain GP and Vietnam GP as well. So far, those races still remains on the calendar – although situation can change anytime. For now, the Australian GP is off but not after a shambolic show from officials.
Overnight it looked like that the race is off but no decision was made as it stretched until the morning of Friday when fans started to turn up for the events. They were not allowed in as meetings carried on behind the scenes between all involved parties.
It left teams, media, fans and everyone in the dark as the wait continued. It was not clear about outfits who didn’t wish to take part but it became apparent that Ferrari didn’t as Sebastian Vettel was said to have already left along with Kimi Raikkonen.
Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri, meanwhile, looked ready to race but it wasn’t clear which all teams didn’t until Mercedes released a statement requesting for cancellation. No sooner the statement was made about the grand prix being cancelled.
It read: “Following the confirmation that a member of the McLaren Racing Team has tested positive for COVID-19 and the team’s decision to withdraw from the Australian Grand Prix, the FIA and F1 convened a meeting of the other nine team principals on Thursday evening.
“Those discussions concluded with a majority view of the teams that the race should not go ahead. The FIA and F1, with the full support of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation (AGPC) have therefore taken the decision that all Formula 1 activity for the Australian Grand Prix is cancelled.
“We appreciate this is very disappointing news for the thousands of fans due to attend the race and all ticket holders will receive a full refund and a further announcement will be communicated in due course.
“All parties took into consideration the huge efforts of the AGPC, Motorsport Australia, staff and volunteers to stage the opening round of the 2020 FIA Formula One World Championship in Melbourne, however concluded that the safety of all members of the F1 family and the wider community, as well as the fairness of the competition take priority.”
Here’s news from McLaren pulling out
Here’s what F1 drivers said regarding racing in Aus GP