BREAKING: 2020 AUSTRALIAN FORMULA 1 GP CANCELLED

[MarkR]

Some interesting 'cash is king' comments from Lewis this morning too:

https://www.theweek.co.uk/formula-1/106137/cash-is-king-lewis-hamilton-f1-australian-gp-coronavirus

The true impact maybe even bigger than the virus.

https://www.independent.co.uk/voice...pandemic-economy-bankrupt-italy-a9394891.html

The 'big guys' like F1, sponsors, teams etc may well lose some money but it's the little guy I'm more concerned about. I imagine events like F1 make up a significant part of the smaller companies that support events annual turnover, profit and ability to pay staff. That, in turn, knocks on to the real lower-paid people doing the job. Saved from the virus to be placed in a perilous financial position is all a bit out of the frying pan into the fire. A difficult moral and social choice for sure.

 

[rubaru]

That will go south quickly. Brawn said they would not hold a championship race without all teams.

I think he actually said the race would go on even if a team decided for themselves to withdraw. The only way a race would be canceled is if a team were prevented from traveling by some sort of travel ban or quarantine. McLaren were already on site and later decided to withdraw.

 

[BrunoBæ]

There is a great deal of double standard here.
The local organisers does fight to be allowed to run the event if the local government doesnt strictly forbid it.
And what is worse is that the head of the F1 organisers FIA and the owner Liberty Media will do anything to get the income of even some reduced spectator events.

But if a lot more people get infected with this virus because of those events then FIA and Liberty Media will be the first to wash their hands and say its not our responsibility because those events wasnt legally forbidden by the local governments.

Money talks.

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

Hmm. Cash is king as Hamilton said.

 

[FinFan]

I translated this part of an article from the german portal motorsport.com

Incidentally, this sharp criticism of Formula 1 was not seen on international TV. In the official part of the FIA press conference, the corona virus was not mentioned in any syllable - and when journalists present were finally allowed to ask their "Questions from the Floor", the TV signal practically failed on "Sky" ("temporarily unavailable").

the whole article in german can be found here

Lewis Hamilton kritisiert F1 als geldgierig & fordert Melbourne-Absage

de.motorsport.com

I guess that speaks for itself.

 

[LeSunTzu]

I think he actually said the race would go on even if a team decided for themselves to withdraw. The only way a race would be canceled is if a team were prevented from traveling by some sort of travel ban or quarantine. McLaren were already on site and later decided to withdraw.

So they would cancel a race because a team is hit by a travel ban, but they would maintain it when there is an actual hazard for the teams, the GP staff and the fans. It would not make any sense - or "Cash is king" justifies anything.

 

[Antony Snook]

Yesterday i saw a podcast on u tube by Mr Peter Windsor. He was on the plane to his native country of Australia for GP. He had a very high tec mask. As a Generalist he can go to the race as its business. It will make problems for Italians like Ferrari team and also Pirelli and Brembo reps. The lack of spectators will cause a financial crisis as Money is borrowed to hold GP and made up by attendance. Just like Pheonix 1990. It was empty as locals stayed home to watch GP in the comfort of air conditioning in the desert heat.

 

[Jenn Cutter]

Incidentally, this sharp criticism of Formula 1 was not seen on international TV. In the official part of the FIA press conference, the corona virus was not mentioned in any syllable - and when journalists present were finally allowed to ask their "Questions from the Floor", the TV signal practically failed on "Sky" ("temporarily unavailable").

the whole article in german can be found here

Lewis Hamilton kritisiert F1 als geldgierig & fordert Melbourne-Absage

de.motorsport.com

I wondered about that, too, @FinFan. Apparently another case of F1's poor communication! This year the last chunk of a conference will be reserved for print media, no cameras. The way it was handled live made everyone look bad.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1237983752531226624

 

[muzikant]

Sad things!! Maybe a idea... racing there without public, everbody watch on tv.

 

[FinFan]

I wondered about that, too, @FinFan. Apparently another case of F1's poor communication! This year the last chunk of a conference will be reserved for print media, no cameras. The way it was handled live made everyone look bad.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1237983752531226624

Agreed. Even if this was a scheduled cutting of the feed it still reflects poorly on F1. And while other series act (NASCAR being the latest) F1 still tries to play it down.

 

[Thang Nguyen]

any McLaren fans here?

 

[Col_ed_Viân]

As someone would say: "is F1 2020 season over?"

 

[farjam]

any McLaren fans here?

One here.
______________________________________________________________
Comparing Australia's situation with were i live (Iran) in the case of Sars-Cov-2(or its family-friendly name, COVID19) virus shows that i live in actual hell right now, but if they don't take it serious it will be way worse, it's all started with "it's just like flu and the rate and the number of fatalities are lower than flu" , yeah, but the number of deaths is only lower vs annual fatality of flu ffs.
Sars-cov2 or COVID19 is not weaker than flu in general, it's only weaker compare to "H1N1 flu/Swine flu" and "H5N1 flu/bird flu" but there are some people who are generalizing it just to avoid too much stress.
btw i got H1N1 back in December, and here i am minus 10KG

 

[Deleted member 561801]

I heard that McClaren won't run this weekend, can someone confirm that?

 

[farjam]

I heard that McClaren won't run this weekend, can someone confirm that?

Yes, it's official.

 

[Jenn Cutter]

Two conflicting updates on what's next right now:

SkySportsNews reported earlier "Despite McLaren's withdrawal from this weekend's F1 opener after a team member showed coronavirus-like symptoms, this weekend's Australian Grand Prix is set to go ahead. "

Then Andrew Benson says "Two senior F1 sources tell BBC Sport the Australian Grand Prix has been called off. No official confirmation yet from F1 or the FIA"

F1 and FIA sure are taking their sweet time with this.

 

[Deleted member 561801]

Yes, it's official.

Thanks for the answer! Sad to hear

 

[BrunoBæ]

Sad things!! Maybe a idea... racing there without public, everbody watch on tv.

Maybe not a completely bad idea.
But it still sounds like people think that this will go away in a month or two.
And as example LeMans will be allowed to run with the about a quarter of a million spectators.

People with some knowledge about how a worldwide pandemic will influence most spectator dependent events will probably in the next weeks have something crucial to say.

 

[Deleted member 561801]

Two conflicting updates on what's next right now:

SkySportsNews reported earlier "Despite McLaren's withdrawal from this weekend's F1 opener after a team member showed coronavirus-like symptoms, this weekend's Australian Grand Prix is set to go ahead. "

Then Andrew Benson says "Two senior F1 sources tell BBC Sport the Australian Grand Prix has been called off. No official confirmation yet from F1 or the FIA"

F1 and FIA sure are taking their sweet time with this.

They're not serious, who to believe? Free practice starts tomorrow.
PS: There will be a race with or without spectators?

 

[Magus]

It's now been postponed.