Australian Grand Prix to be postponed

Formula 1’s season-opening 2020 Australian Grand Prix has been called off amid growing concerns over the coronavirus, MotorsportWeek.com understands.

On Thursday, McLaren announced it would withdraw from the event after a team member tested positive for the virus.

A total of eight F1 team personnel – four of which belong to the Haas F1 Team – have been tested for the virus after showing mild symptoms, but all tests, bar the single McLaren employee, have come back negative.

With McLaren’s decision coming late on Thursday evening, it forced F1 team bosses to hold an emergency meeting in the very early hours of Friday morning (1am local time) to discuss the matter and decide whether or not they should press ahead with the race.

A vote on the matter was held and a majority voted in favour of postponing the race.

There has been no official statement from Formula 1 or the FIA on the matter, but that is expected imminently.

The second round on the calendar, the Bahrain GP, is set to be run behind closed doors, but could be called off following this latest development, whilst MotorsportWeek.com understands Vietnam will be postponed whilst the Chinese round was postponed last month.

This is a breaking news story, more details to follow as this story develops…