Australian F1 race without fans? Not a chance, say organisers

Formula One F1 - Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne - Reuters

MELBOURNE (Reuters): The season-opening Formula One race in Melbourne will proceed as planned this week and there is ‘no chance’ fans will be excluded because of coronavirus fears, Australian Grand Prix Corporation chief Andrew Westacott said yesterday.

The fourth round of the championship in Shanghai in April has been postponed, while organisers of the Bahrain Grand Prix said on Sunday that their race would go ahead without spectators 22 March.

Westacott, however, said there was no prospect at all of Australia following suit with Sunday’s race at Albert Park, especially after a record crowd packed into Melbourne Cricket Ground for Sunday’s Women’s T20 World Cup final. “Not a chance,” Westacott told SEN radio in Melbourne yesterday.

“When you look at 86,000 at the MCG last night... we’ve got to go around things sensibly and keep moving on through life while taking the necessary precautions.”

More than 107,000 people around the world have been infected by the virus and 3,600 have died, according to a Reuters tally of Government announcements. Several international sporting events have been affected.

Most Formula One teams are based in England but Ferrari and Honda-powered AlphaTauri (formerly Toro Rosso) are located in Italy, which has seen a recent surge in coronavirus cases.