Are the FIA deliberately holding back the official statement?

With less than six hours until the Formula 1 cars are due to be out on the track, the FIA still hasn't confirmed whether or not the Australian Grand Prix weekend will continue. Sources and reports suggest that the event has been cancelled, but no official word is out from F1 or the FIA. Are they doing this on purpose?

A team member of the McLaren team tested positive for the coronavirus. A result of this, the team of Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris announced that they will not be racing in Australia. Almost all major sporting events worldwide are being cancelled. 

The latest rumour is that the FIA ​​deliberately chooses to let something official be heard about the event. The regulations state that the sponsor can get money back if the event is cancelled before the official inspection times of the cars have taken place.

Conspiracy theory

For the time being, this is a far-fetched conspiracy theory. It will be especially bad if the FIA ​​is actually able to do this. But the tweet below and the attached part of the regulations do refer to such a situation.

Delays in announcing a cancellation and possible new date for the #AusGP may be due in part to any forward movement on the scrutineering timeline yesterday (Thursday), which would have triggered this payment clause from organizers to @F1 pic.twitter.com/68TcRM77xj

— F1 in America (@F1US) March 12, 2020