Members of the Ferrari team arrive to pack up their equipment after the Formula One Australian Grand Prix was cancelled in Melbourne. (Getty Images)
The Australian Grand Prix – the season opener event of the F1 championship was cancelled following the Coronavirus pandemic.
The official decision to cancel the Grand Prix was taken by the authorities on early Friday morning.
Although there were significant doubts regarding the conduction of the race due to the virus fears, they finally took the decision following team McLaren’s withdrawal from the event.
McLaren decided to sit out of the event after a member of their team was tested positive to the COVID-19 virus.
Many of the F1 drivers including champion Lewis Hamilton took to Twitter following the event’s cancellation.
Though there was evident disappointment in most of the drivers’ words, they also seemed to respect the decision.
Also, the Australian Grand Prix has confirmed that all ticket holders would be receiving a refund.
Meanwhile, the F1 and governing body, the FIA, have recently announced that they ‘expect’ the 2020 season to begin at the end of May.
However, this will be regularly reviewed and things could change depending on the situation.
The Chinese Grand Prix, which was set to take place on April 19th, was postponed due to the virus outbreak.
The Bahrain Grand Prix and the first-ever Vietnam Grand Prix scheduled to begin in April have also been postponed.
Hopefully, the virus dies down soon and F1 can get the season going again.
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