Australia 2020: Race will continue as planned

As it stands, this year's Australian Grand Prix will go ahead as planned, according to F1 Management, as well as local promoters and sponsors for this year's race.

The biggest concern that fans have at the moment, including myself, is the growing concern for the remainder of this year's races, particularly in light of the Bahrain GP being held without spectators and the Chinese GP either being postponed or cancelled altogether.

Will the COVID-19 Virus cause any more havoc with any other races this year?

Only time will tell.......

It’s impossible to ignore the global health situation as the season gets started, and it's still an ever-changing situation that needs constant monitoring. All teams have been faced with a few logistical challenges to try and ensure racing can take place safely and with as little disruption as possible.

For instance, with Italy being the worst hit and Ferrari's and Alpha Tauri's headquarters being in close proximity to the epicenter of the outbreak in Italy, both team's personnel have been cleared to travel to Australia.

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 traveler fails those health checks, they will be refused entry to the country.

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.”