Chaos ahead of Australian Open: 'Formula 1 made smart choice'

In a few weeks, the Australian Open will start and it already seems to be turning into a farce because of the coronavirus pandemic. Formula 1's decision to postpone the Australian Grand Prix early thus seems to be the right one.

The country is very isolated. From an early stage, the Australian government have been acting on people arriving in the country to protect against the virus from outside. So because there is a real chance that they could be virus-free soon, the authorities are extra strict when it comes to keeping the virus out.

This already has consequences for the Australian Open, reports The Guardian. 47 tennis players are now forced to spend two weeks in quarantine. Not because they tested positive, but because they were on a plane where someone tested positive. The preparation for the tournament has been turned upside down for these players and some say they would not have come if they had known about this in advance.

What i don’t understand is that, why no one ever told us, if one person on board is positive the whole plane need to be isolated I would think twice before coming here

— Yulia Putintseva (@PutintsevaYulia) January 16, 2021

Discontent among Australians

Among the Australians themselves, there is now considerable discontent about the tournament going ahead at all. Because the borders between the different states in Australia are locked, many of them cannot go home. The fact that tennis players are allowed to travel internationally therefore feels warped.

Journalists who follow Formula 1 are now satisfied with the early decision not to interfere. With more than two months to go before the Australian GP, the postponement of the race could have been called premature, but the sport's risk-free approach seems to be working for the time being.

With 47 competing #AusOpen players confined to their hotel rooms for 14 days following three positive tests on two charter flights to Melbourne, a smart move by F1 to push back the GP from March to November.

— Philip Duncan (@PhilDuncanF1) January 16, 2021