Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
This is not strictly F1 related but for a glimpse into absurd this decision actually looks with context, Australia is likely going to cancel ANZAC Day commemorations.
For those not Australian, that is a BIG DEAL. Australians are, largely, not rah rah patriotic about the military the way Americans are, and I wouldn't call these celebrations, but we take the days of commemoration seriously as an opportunity to remember losses and mourn horror, with dawn services being common events on the day.
To have those potentially be cancelled while vroom vroom cars go ahead; it's an odd feeling.
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Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
is anyone surprised that Formula 1 beat writers are insanely unprofessional headline sniping pricks?
I don't believe anything until I see a post from the FIA itself, or Chase Carey
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Nova_CI have the needThe need for speedRegistered Userregular
If they go ahead, they're morons.
There is too much risk. Cancel the damn race.
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Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
Sky said teams plan to go ahead sans McLaren. Maybe they're hoping that that's as ridiculous as it sounds, forcing Liberty to make the call and not get the copout of teams doing it.
Insurance could also play into this. Presumably there are insurance implications depending on who ultimately makes the call, and if both the teams and Liberty play chicken for long enough maybe they force the local government to make the call and that helps them insurance-wise.
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Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
Sky said teams plan to go ahead sans McLaren. Maybe they're hoping that that's as ridiculous as it sounds, forcing Liberty to make the call and not get the copout of teams doing it.
Insurance could also play into this. Presumably there are insurance implications depending on who ultimately makes the call, and if both the teams and Liberty play chicken for long enough maybe they force the local government to make the call and that helps them insurance-wise.
I think that's part of what went into cancelling South by Southwest. The city of Austin declared a local emergency and forced the conference to shut down, rather than SXSW "voluntarily" doing it. I'm sure that plays a lot into liability, insurance, etc.
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Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
Sky now done an about face and announced it's off.
The more I read the coronavirus thread, the more I'm becoming convinced that having spectators at the Australian GP is a bad idea. But it's in the middle of Melbourne, it's not exactly as isolated as Sakhir in Bahrain, so how you'd stop that even if you wanted to I have no idea.
I'd hate for the race to be remembered as a coronavirus spreader. The state of Victoria has 23 cases right now, apparently.
I bet we see more than just Bahrain run with no spectators this year.
That post was yesterday morning.
These 36 hours or whatever have been about six years long.
Sky now done an about face and announced it's off.
That's the sane option.
Kinda sad that I'll have no race to watch this weekend, but shit, cancelling that late was negligent.
Indycar in St. Petersburg is still not cancelled yet but it's likely only a matter of time until it is. If it's not cancelled it'll likely be run without any spectators.
Sky now done an about face and announced it's off.
That's the sane option.
Kinda sad that I'll have no race to watch this weekend, but shit, cancelling that late was negligent.
Indycar in St. Petersburg is still not cancelled yet but it's likely only a matter of time until it is. If it's not cancelled it'll likely be run without any spectators.
so, normal operations for Indy street circuit races then 8-)
It's a shame to miss out on the race, but I can't disagree with the decision to call it off (assuming they do officially call it off, it's still unclear right now).
Not sure where that leaves the start of the season really. Assume Aus gone, Bahrain still on but with closed doors, Vietnam likely gone, China 'postponed'... The next race is Zandvoort in early May, and who knows what the situation will be by then.
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Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
Ten minutes past gate opening time and they aren't open yet. I'm still in my hotel.
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SnicketysnickThe Greatest Hype Man inWesterosRegistered Userregular
Jazz have you seen this banner from the f1 twitter page? it's a great shot of the drivers/jumpsuits that's worthy of the OP imo
still no word on the cars but it's a start.
Of course this could all be irrelevant if things carry on as they are, but caution is best for now tbh
Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
Full refunds to ticket holders.
Doesn't make the situation feel all that much better, but at least I'm not out the ticket cost on top of the flights and hotels.
I'm in a very fortunate position that this isn't much of a financial blow for me but my heart is breaking for the inevitable hundreds or thousands of people for whom coming to this event would have been something for which they scrimped and saved for months.
Meetings between F1 and the teams took place overnight, with it thought cancellation was a certainty.
However, the situation failed to find a resolution, with conflicting reports and statements from the paddock and race organisers throwing the event into chaos just hours before first practice was due to get underway.
Fans were subsequently banned from the circuit having queued up without word to get in beforehand, with the race set to be staged behind closed doors if it was to go ahead.
The possibility of just three teams being willing to race opened up the bizarre prospect of a repeat of the 2005 US GP, when just six cars took part at that controversial Indianapolis race.
One senior team member told Autosport: "We're racers, and we're here to race."
Their positions became clear at meeting with Ross Brawn at a hotel in downtown Melbourne late on Thursday night, following McLaren's announcement.
The majority of the teams wanted to cancel the race, but Red Bull boss Christian Horner, AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost and Racing Point's Otmar Szafnauer said their teams would take part unless the authorities say that the race can't run on health grounds.
That triggered a complex overnight legal discussion between F1, the FIA and the Victorian government on what to do next and who would be responsible for the decision, with all the obvious financial implications.
Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault - three teams with manufacturer backing - were vehemently opposed to going ahead, with the world champions writing a letter explaining their decision.
On Friday morning only skeleton staffs from each arrived at the track.
The pitlane garages of Ferrari and Mercedes remained closed as of 10am, an hour before FP1, which is a breach of the regulations.
Renault was open but the cars were still in parc ferme condition, with covers on the cars.
The remaining six teams had their garages open but only three were making serious preparation to run had the track opened on time.
So yeah, extremely poorly handled due to financial implications depending on who would be responsible for deciding to cancel the race. Ugh.
Doesn't make the situation feel all that much better, but at least I'm not out the ticket cost on top of the flights and hotels.
I'm in a very fortunate position that this isn't much of a financial blow for me but my heart is breaking for the inevitable hundreds or thousands of people for whom coming to this event would have been something for which they scrimped and saved for months.
Yeah, it just sucks. There will undoubtedly be some for whom it was a once-in-a-lifetime trip from halfway around the world.
Glad it's not hit you hard enough to be too problematic. But still sucks. Sorry. :bro:
Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
It's also the last chance I'll have to see the pinnacle of F1 (for the foreseeable future) in person. I'll likely set aside the refund money to go again next year, and the new cars are very exciting, but likely won't have the raw speed these ones do.
Sky now done an about face and announced it's off.
That's the sane option.
Kinda sad that I'll have no race to watch this weekend, but shit, cancelling that late was negligent.
Indycar in St. Petersburg is still not cancelled yet but it's likely only a matter of time until it is. If it's not cancelled it'll likely be run without any spectators.
Side note: this will be the first year without an Australian Grand Prix since 1946. The event became part of the World Championship in 1985 when it first moved to the Adelaide street circuit. Since its inception in 1928, it has only missed eight years, six of which were during World War II. It's been hosted at 23 different venues, and the last time it was at Bathurst (yes, it was there) was in 1958.
It's a shame to miss out on the race, but I can't disagree with the decision to call it off (assuming they do officially call it off, it's still unclear right now).
Not sure where that leaves the start of the season really. Assume Aus gone, Bahrain still on but with closed doors, Vietnam likely gone, China 'postponed'... The next race is Zandvoort in early May, and who knows what the situation will be by then.
BBC reporting that it's "likely" Bahrain and Vietnam will be called off and the season will start at Zandvoort, but of course not confirmed yet, and you're right, who the hell knows what it'll be like in May. We don't even know what it'll be like in the next few days.
Formula E has also been suspended for two months, with the races in Paris, Seoul and Jakarta not going ahead.
Makes you wonder how Codemasters' F1 2020 will look like.
I would hope that, assuming it still comes out (which I guess it will because development costs and licensing contracts and whatnot), it would run the season as it was expected to be in, say, mid-February; China probably dropped from the track line-up, but starting in Australia and taking in the rest of the calendar as if it was all under control elsewhere in the world.
Who knows, but I can't see dropping a bunch of tracks going down well with customers.
Of course, it remains to be seen if there will be a 2020 season at all. But that's getting way too far ahead at the moment.
Formula One has called off the Bahrain and Vietnamese Grand Prix after the cancellation of Sunday’s Australian season-opener due to the coronavirus outbreak, the Guardian sports desk reports.
Bahrain, the second race on the calendar which was due to take place on Sunday 22 March, had already been scheduled to be run without spectators under floodlights at the Sakhir circuit.
Vietnam’s first Formula One Grand Prix had been scheduled for 5 April on the streets of Hanoi as the third round of the season. Both races have now been postponed just over 12 hours after the Australian Grand Prix was officially abandoned following a positive coronavirus test from a McLaren team member.
GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
edited March 2020
Not that this is any sort of excuse for the handling of all this, but if you read the political wrangling and factions involved in making a decision like this, it’s no wonder it took so long. Liberty as the rights holders, the FIA and the teams all have different sets of power and responsibilities and no one of those entities can just kill the race without concessions and agreement from the others. The political structure of F1 is completely broken.
More idle thought: Would the FIA organise further testing sessions to compensate for the lack of track time, or would even that be considered too risky? Maybe private testing on a per-team basis?
The reason I mention this is because we've lost the entire early season stint and are (in theory) going straight to the european leg. Traditionally Barcelona is where teams would introduce their first major upgrade for the year, which I assume they're still developing regardless, but without any on track data about their current design and testing of planned changes (e.g. a new front wing part in a practice session) they'll be working almost blind. It's particularly important for the teams to correlate their on track and windtunnel/CFD data to see how well the design works in practice and they won't be able to do that now.
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Steam | XBL
I have to say this isn't the outcome I've been expecting for the last three hours.
https://streamable.com/4rwxf
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-12/wa-coronavirus-preparations-step-up-text-alerts-tourism-campaign/12048906
For those not Australian, that is a BIG DEAL. Australians are, largely, not rah rah patriotic about the military the way Americans are, and I wouldn't call these celebrations, but we take the days of commemoration seriously as an opportunity to remember losses and mourn horror, with dawn services being common events on the day.
To have those potentially be cancelled while vroom vroom cars go ahead; it's an odd feeling.
Two equally reliable F1 media outlets provide two utterly opposite stories.
Sky says it's on, BBC says off.
Steam | XBL
I don't believe anything until I see a post from the FIA itself, or Chase Carey
There is too much risk. Cancel the damn race.
Insurance could also play into this. Presumably there are insurance implications depending on who ultimately makes the call, and if both the teams and Liberty play chicken for long enough maybe they force the local government to make the call and that helps them insurance-wise.
A counterpoint I've seen; they've already left it so late that most of the risks have already happened. At this point there is not a lot to lose.
Though the crowds for Sunday will certainly be bigger than those for Thursday or Friday, so it's not much of a counterpoint.
I think that's part of what went into cancelling South by Southwest. The city of Austin declared a local emergency and forced the conference to shut down, rather than SXSW "voluntarily" doing it. I'm sure that plays a lot into liability, insurance, etc.
That's the sane option.
Kinda sad that I'll have no race to watch this weekend, but shit, cancelling that late was negligent.
That post was yesterday morning.
These 36 hours or whatever have been about six years long.
Steam | XBL
Indycar in St. Petersburg is still not cancelled yet but it's likely only a matter of time until it is. If it's not cancelled it'll likely be run without any spectators.
so, normal operations for Indy street circuit races then 8-)
Not sure where that leaves the start of the season really. Assume Aus gone, Bahrain still on but with closed doors, Vietnam likely gone, China 'postponed'... The next race is Zandvoort in early May, and who knows what the situation will be by then.
still no word on the cars but it's a start.
Of course this could all be irrelevant if things carry on as they are, but caution is best for now tbh
D3 Steam #TeamTangent STO
Doesn't make the situation feel all that much better, but at least I'm not out the ticket cost on top of the flights and hotels.
I'm in a very fortunate position that this isn't much of a financial blow for me but my heart is breaking for the inevitable hundreds or thousands of people for whom coming to this event would have been something for which they scrimped and saved for months.
Added to OP.
Steam | XBL
So yeah, extremely poorly handled due to financial implications depending on who would be responsible for deciding to cancel the race. Ugh.
Steam | XBL
Yeah, it just sucks. There will undoubtedly be some for whom it was a once-in-a-lifetime trip from halfway around the world.
Glad it's not hit you hard enough to be too problematic. But still sucks. Sorry. :bro:
Steam | XBL
Indycar in Long Beach (April 17-19) is cancelled. The City of Long Beach prohibited all large-scale events through April 30. https://www.autosport.com/indycar/news/148645/long-beach-race-scrapped-due-to-coronavirus
Steam | XBL
Steam | XBL
BBC reporting that it's "likely" Bahrain and Vietnam will be called off and the season will start at Zandvoort, but of course not confirmed yet, and you're right, who the hell knows what it'll be like in May. We don't even know what it'll be like in the next few days.
Formula E has also been suspended for two months, with the races in Paris, Seoul and Jakarta not going ahead.
Steam | XBL
I would hope that, assuming it still comes out (which I guess it will because development costs and licensing contracts and whatnot), it would run the season as it was expected to be in, say, mid-February; China probably dropped from the track line-up, but starting in Australia and taking in the rest of the calendar as if it was all under control elsewhere in the world.
Who knows, but I can't see dropping a bunch of tracks going down well with customers.
Of course, it remains to be seen if there will be a 2020 season at all. But that's getting way too far ahead at the moment.
Steam | XBL
Steam | XBL
The reason I mention this is because we've lost the entire early season stint and are (in theory) going straight to the european leg. Traditionally Barcelona is where teams would introduce their first major upgrade for the year, which I assume they're still developing regardless, but without any on track data about their current design and testing of planned changes (e.g. a new front wing part in a practice session) they'll be working almost blind. It's particularly important for the teams to correlate their on track and windtunnel/CFD data to see how well the design works in practice and they won't be able to do that now.