Australian Grands Prix for Formula 1 and MotoGP races canceled for 2021

The Victoria State Government is today anticipated to affirm the cancellation of the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix and Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix MotoGP.

The Australian Formula One Grand Prix and MotoGP are set to be canceled on Tuesday for a second consecutive year because of the Covid pandemic, AFP gets it.

Coordinators planned to stage the races in October and November, yet have hit roadblocks over Australia’s necessity for abroad appearances to go through 14 days of mandatory quarantine.

An authority declaration by Australian Grand Prix Corporation chief Andrew Westacott is expected later Tuesday, AFP has learned.

The Formula One race had effectively been pushed back from its traditional season-opening space in March to 21 November, after the Brazilian Grand Prix and before the debut race in Saudi Arabia.

Cancellation would mean two years without a race at Melbourne’s Albert Park after the 2020 version was drastically canceled just before the opening practice session.

It follows the Singapore Grand Prix, planned for 3 October, additionally being canceled over COVID-19 concerns.

The MotoGP circuit additionally skipped Australia last year because of the pandemic however it was planned to get back to Phillip Island on 24 October.

While Australia has been among the world’s best countries in containing the coronavirus, Melbourne has battled through a few lockdowns.

Groups are presently back in sports stadiums in the city, however, concerns stay high with Sydney right now in lockdown as it handles an outbreak of the exceptionally infectious Delta variant.

Melbourne was set to host F1 in November after the season-opener was rescheduled from its traditional March date to permit more opportunity for the global pandemic to settle.

“We regret to announce that the 2021 Australian Grand Prix has been canceled due to restrictions and logistical challenges relating to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” coordinators said in a statement of the Nov. 21 race.

MotoGP had held its typical spot on the two-wheeled schedule however international travel and quarantine considerations left it in danger.

The Australian round of the MotoGP world championship, planned for Phillip Island on Oct. 24, was likewise canceled for the second progressive year.

“The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and resulting travel complications and logistical restrictions mean it has not been possible to confirm the viability of the event at this time, and it will therefore not feature on the 2021 calendar,” organizers said.

Speedcafe.com comprehends the two events will now not go on as a solution for how the two categories would enter the nation couldn’t be found.

As first detailed by Speedcafe.com, a declaration on the destiny of the F1 event was expected this month, while reports from Europe had promoted the cancellation of the Phillip Island MotoGP affair.

It is expected that both the Australian Formula 1 and MotoGP races will not go ahead later this year as arranged because of the country’s severe international border rules.

Personnel showing up from abroad would have to finish mandatory supervised quarantine for about fourteen days to be permitted into the country, something that nor category was probably going to agree to.

Regardless of whether drivers and riders had consented to go through quarantine, it would have been hard to work with on account of another cap on appearances because of issues with the hotel quarantine system and the Delta strain of COVID-19.

The possibility of a biosphere has twice been coasted for the F1 race in Melbourne yet it seems those discussions with important health authorities have failed.

True to form, the Australian Grand Prix Corporation affirmed that neither event will go on in the final quarter of this current year as planned.

The F1 race had effectively been moved from March to mid-November.

The move follows failed converses with health authorities at the state and federal government levels over how to bring personnel, including riders and drivers, through Australia’s strict closed border.

The possibility of a biosphere was skimmed, at least for the Albert Park F1 race, yet failed.

In any event, bringing personnel through hotel quarantine would have been troublesome because of a new cap on fresh introductions in light of the highly transmissible Delta strain of COVID-19.

Both short-cutting quarantine and using the supervised hotel-based system would have been troublesome sells on a PR front as well, given so many Australians are as yet incapable to get back.

“We understand this is not the news MotoGP and Formula 1 fans wanted to hear,” said AGPC CEO Andrew Westacott.

“I would like to extend my thanks to the Victorian Government, Formula 1, and Dorna Sports for their unwavering resilience and support during this challenging period, and their ongoing commitment to these two great events.

“There are bound to be ongoing challenges with COVID-19, but I want to reassure fans that while there is sadness and disappointment amongst our wonderful AGPC staff there is a tenacity and determination to make sure the next episodes of MotoGPTM at the Island and Formula 1 at the new Albert Park layout are sensational showcases of how we do things in Victoria.”

Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali repeated the category’s desire to stage 23 races this year notwithstanding this most recent cancellation.

“While it is disappointing we won’t be racing in Australia this season, we are confident we can deliver a 23 race season in 2021 and we have several options to take forward to replace the place left vacant by the Australian Grand Prix,” he said.

“We will be working through the details of those options in the coming weeks and will provide further updates once those discussions are concluded.”

Despite a slow beginning to its vaccination program, Australia is hoping to have sufficient individuals vaccinated before the year’s over to start opening its boundaries.

That implies trusts are high that international events, for example, the F1 and MotoGP races can return next season.

What stays not yet clear, in any case, is the place where these races will find a way into their respective calendars.

There has been discussion about a straight swap between the F1 and MotoGP dates, which would move the Phillip Island MotoGP race into a possibly better weather window, and move the Albert Park rush to the back finish of the F1 schedule.

It’s similarly possible the races will hold their present spots.

The cancellation of the Albert Park event works toward the back of the Supercars schedule, the Aussie series now not needed to air freight cars back from its New Zealand round toward the beginning of November.

That is except if Supercars picks to use that slot to host its deferred Winton round, a decision that may rely on whether different events get canceled over the span of this season to risk the 12 rounds needed for the broadcast agreement.

S5000 was additionally set to race at Albert Park as part of its Triple Crown that likewise incorporated the Bathurst International and the Gold Coast 500.

Victoria state premier Dan Andrews prior proposed the cancellation was probable given low rates of local vaccination and a decrease in international flights to Australia.

“The timing doesn’t quite line up, and that makes it very, very challenging,” he said.

“We work very closely with all of our partners, particularly F1 and indeed the MotoGP as well. But some things are possible in a pandemic and some things are really hard.”

Australian Grand Prix Corporation director Paul Little said he was “deeply disappointed” in a proclamation.

“We appreciate the challenge Australia faces with current international travel restrictions and the importance of vaccinations,” he added.

A statement from Victorian Sport Minister Martin Pakula said: “It’s very disappointing that these much-loved events can’t proceed but this is the reality of the pandemic – but until we get much higher vaccination rates we cannot return to more normal settings.

“We are getting to work on plans for 2022 immediately and can’t wait to welcome the world’s best drivers and riders and all motorsport fans back to Albert Park and Phillip Island.”

Formula One chief Stefano Domenicali said in a statement the competition was all the while planning on finishing a full 23-race season.

“While it is disappointing we won’t be racing in Australia this season, we are confident we can deliver a 23 race season in 2021 and we have several options to take forward to replace the place left vacant by the Australian Grand Prix,” his statement read.

“We will be working through the details of those options in the coming weeks and will provide further updates once those discussions are concluded.”

F1 authorities supposedly put out a proposal to the Victorian Government requesting teams to have the option to fly all through a strict bubble as the current prerequisite of a two-week hotel quarantine was not plausible given the current race schedule.

It will be the second back-to-back year the Australian Grand Prix has not had the option to go on, inspiring memories of tumultuous scenes just before the race in March 2020 as fans lined up to access the event while drivers were at that point heading towards the airport.

The season was accordingly suspended and with Australia being a road race as opposed to a circuit, it got difficult to legitimize closing down a huge segment of the city to stage the event.

The MotoGP at Phillip Island was additionally canceled in 2020 and keeping in mind that it held its standard spot on the calendar, similar international travel and quarantine limitations again made it difficult to stage.