Coronavirus cancels the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix

Organisers call off the event after a McLaren team member tested positive for the disease

1y ago
98.1K

The Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix has been called off after a McLaren team member tested positive for the coronavirus COVID-19.

McLaren had previously announced that it would withdraw from the race, but it was hours later before several media outlets reported multiple sources confirming its cancellation, and hours after that before organisers finally pulled the plug.

The delayed response prompted plenty of criticism from members of the F1 media.

It also raised the question of whether future races would go ahead. The Chinese race in April has already been cancelled, and the Bahrain race - set to take place next weekend - is currently due to take place without any fans present.

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Comments (74)

  • Either cancel way before so the teams don't have to spend money or you race anyways, everything is already there and set up. Such a waste

      1 year ago
    • Its another Geneva episode, isn't it? Must've costed the teams thousands to move the stuff in

        1 year ago
    • I think the constantly changing state of affairs regarding corona makes (made) it hard to predict what may or might happen going forward. I'm not surprised they decided to pull the plug so last minute. Massive shame for the teams after all...

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        1 year ago
  • Should have been cancelled before

      1 year ago
  • Not cancelled. No FIA statement has been g8ven for so far.

      1 year ago
  • Personally don't care if F1 is cancelled - I haven't watched it for years - I find the PaintDrying champs much more exciting...BUT these border closures and event cancellations are a knee jerk reaction far too late. Once the beerbug got out of Wuhan and into the general population it was always going to spread far and wide. It will now spread across the globe regardless of our feeble restrictions. We might as well continue as "normal", wash our hands frequently, don't touch our faces, stay home IF we are symptomatic, and continue to enjoy whatever events we choose! We don't stay home to avoid traffic accidents and yet vastly more people die in crashes daily than from CoronaVirus!

      1 year ago
    • I disagree. The continue like normal sentiment stems from the rise of terrorism where the best way to combat it is not to bow down to attempts to prevent normal day to day functioning. Viruses on the otherhand don't care if people are afraid or...

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        1 year ago
    • You will notice I was advocating increased hygiene measures so not ignoring the problem but also not over-reacting which the current panic appears to be!

        1 year ago
  • I don't agree with the cancellation personally, just more scaremongering, why don't we all just stay in doors until the end of the year, pathetic, and before u keyboard warriors start trolling me, it's my opinion and only mine so if u don't agree with me then that's fine, we will all have a different view on this which we are all entitled to have, stay safe 😊

      1 year ago
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