Possible consequences for F1 calendar if Australian Grand Prix is cancelled
General
- GPblog.com
The chances of the Australian Grand Prix being cancelled for the second season in a row due to the coronavirus pandemic are increasing. The Australian government is expected to set high standards and everyone will have to quarantine for at least fourteen days.
Therefore, if it is possible to enter Australia at all, it should be done relatively quickly. In addition, the organisation in Melbourne must be sure in the short term that the Grand Prix will go ahead because they do not want to run the risk of building the circuit for nothing, as they did last year.
No other place for Australian GP?
So they would like a postponement and another place on the calendar, but the question is when would that be possible? If the government sticks 'down under' to the desire for a 'biosphere', in which two weeks' quarantine is compulsory, that will be quite a challenge. Due to a record number of 23 races, there is not enough time between the various GP weekends to build in such a long quarantine period.
Sky Sports also states that, due to the weather during the winter months (July, August) in Australia, Formula 1 will probably have to wait until after the summer break for a new date. Even then, however, F1 is on a full schedule, with a triple header at the very end of the season with Bahrain and Abu Dhabi appearing to be the only realistic option.
If the race in Melbourne does not take place in March, this may also have consequences for the test days that are currently planned in Barcelona. They may then be moved to Bahrain, where the first race of the season will also take place. Instead of at the end of February, they could be held in mid-March.