Italian Formula One teams have started arriving in Australia and there is no chance of the opening grand prix of the season being cancelled, postponed or being held behind closed doors, despite fears over the coronavirus.
Andrew Westacott, CEO of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, said on Monday the race will proceed as planned at Albert Park, after it was announced the next race on the calendar, the Bahrain GP on 22 March, will be run without spectators present. April’s Chinese Grand Prix has already been postponed.
The growing spread of the virus had led to concern over whether the Australian GP would be affected, but when questioned about the possibility of Melbourne following Bahrain by excluding fans, Westacott was adamant it would not.
“Not a chance,” Westacott told SEN. “When you look at 86,000 at the MCG last night, and the footy the week after, we’ve got to go around things sensibly and keep moving on through life while taking the necessary precautions.
“The interesting thing is the Italian freight. The Alpha Tauri cars and the Ferrari cars are on their way from Avalon [airport] as we speak, so it’s really good. The key personnel are on their planes.
“Interestingly, the only two people who didn’t hail from Italy were Sebastian Vettel, who came out of Switzerland, and Charles Leclerc coming out of Monaco via Nice. All the others are on their way, and we’re expecting [them] in the next 12 to 24 hours.”
Professor Brendan Murphy, the Australian government’s chief medical officer, said he did not believe there was a risk in staging the grand prix weekend, which starts on Friday with free practice and concludes with the main race on Sunday.
“Obviously people have been talking about the Italian Ferrari team, but they’ve been carefully screened on the way in,” he said. “There is no evidence of community transmission in Victoria at the moment. I’m not feeling at all concerned going to mass gatherings or walking down the streets in Victoria.”
Last week the Australian government announced enhanced screening measures for travellers arriving from Italy, although it stopped short of imposing an outright travel ban, as it has done for China, Iran and South Korea.
Under the new measures, team mechanics and staff have been subject to rigorous checks before their departure from Italy and then upon arrival in Australia. If a traveller fails those health checks, they will be refused entry to the country.