On the eve of the first practice sessions of the new Formula One season, the coronavirus outbreak has forced a team to withdraw from the Australian Grand Prix.
McLaren released a statement on Thursday evening notifying all stakeholders that they would indeed be withdrawing from the event, following the news that one of their team members were tested positive for the virus.
“McLaren Racing has confirmed this evening in Melbourne that is has withdrawn from the 2020 Formula One Australian Grand Prix, following the positive test of a team member for the coronavirus,” the statement read.
“The team member was tested and self-isolated as soon as they started to show symptoms and will now be treated by local healthcare authorities.
(Photo by Xavier Bonilla/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“The team has prepared for this eventuality and has ongoing support in place for its employee who will now enter a period of quarantine. The team is cooperating with relevant local authorities to assist their investigations and analysis.
“Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing and Andreas Seidl, Team Principal of McLaren F1, informed Formula One and the FIA of the decision this evening. The decision has been taken on a duty of care not only to McLaren F1 employees and partners, but also to the team’s competitors, Formula One fans and wider F1 stakeholders.”
This is the first positive test for coronavirus in the sport, following members of the Haas team also being placed into self-isolation earlier in the week and an official photographer having had to leave the circuit midway through the media day on Thursday.
McLaren’s withdrawal from the Australian Grand Prix casts further doubt over the event, after reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton during the driver’s press conference expressed that he was “shocked that we are here”.
In the lead-up to the start of the new season, Formula One boss Ross Brawn made it clear that if a team were to be unable to compete in a race due to the coronavirus, that the event would not be a championship event – or even the weekend would be called off.
Already, the Chinese Grand Prix has been called off and most likely will not run during the 2020 season, while the Bahrain race, which is due to take place next week, will take place behind closed doors.
Elsewhere globally, the NBA has indefinitely suspended their season after one of their players tested positive for the virus and other motorsport categories such as MotoGP, Formula E and the World Endurance Championship have been thrown into disarray with cancellations and postponements.
Formula One and the FIA are yet to make an official response to the withdrawal of McLaren from the Australian Grand Prix.
Nick
Roar Guru
100%. All this to save $65m. The costs of more people getting sick will make that look like chump change.
Nick
Roar Guru
It's easy to make the right decision when in this instance making the wrong one would be breaking the law! The moment one got sick, the rest HAVE to self isolate. It was impossible to for the team to continue on
Nick
Roar Guru
It was never a good idea. I don't want to say I told you so, but I live in Singapore and we've seen this coming for a while now. This was so obviously coming the moment Italians weren't banned last week. It was a sign the government wasn't taking this seriously enough.
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
Kudos to McLaren though for making this decision. Must have been hard but the right one to make.
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
Wondering what other options there are. My heart wants us to race but my head is thinking whether that is a good idea given these developments.
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
And the worst part is we've all had to change our F1 Fantasy teams! But seriously this is quite something and I wouldn't be surprised if we do get to a full cancellation (and I know that sounds all fear-mongery but safety must be paramount at this time).
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Was good to hear that other 7 people being tested, including the Haas personnel have all returned negative results.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Statement just sent from AGPC boss Andrew Westacott: "The AGPC is currently in discussions with Formula 1, the FIA and the Department of Health and Human Services in relation to the broader implications of this test result." Expecting cancellation at this stage.
JGK
Roar Guru
Should have been cancelled a week or so ago. But now we’ve imported half a dozen people with CV for absolutely no reason whatsoever.
Damo
Guest
I have a bad feeling about this.... Expecting a cancellation/non championship announcement in the morning
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
I have no words. Where do we go from here? Unbelievable news.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
F1 Media have since made the following statement: "Following the outcome of the test on a member the McLaren team, F1 and FIA have been in close contact with them on their decision and have been coordinating with all relevant authorities on next steps. Our priority is the safety of the fans, teams and all personnel at the race"