General

The reason behind strange Aus GP cancellation

The reason behind strange Aus GP cancellation

07-07-2021 08:30 Last update: 08:44
1

Rishi Wig

It was recently announced that the Australian Grand Prix, around the Albert Park city circuit, would not take place for the 2021 season. This came after the postponement of the round till November and now for it to be completely removed from the scheduling. Here's why.

Australia’s current situation

Australia suffered the major outbreak around the time most other nations did, around the February to July mark. A second outbreak occurred due to poor hotel quarantine management in Melbourne, resulting in the state of Victoria going under another lockdown. Victoria has recovered, with very few active cases.


The most recent outbreak has occurred in Sydney, the state of NSW, due to some airport personnel not being vaccinated while coming into contact with overseas travellers. This has correspondingly resulted in a three-week lockdown.

Reasoning

A large number of people have become complacent. Restrictions and lockdowns have been toggled quickly on and off in numerous states and, thankfully, a low death toll has been recorded. This has caused people to believe that they would be safe from any possible outbreak. Thus, vaccination numbers are low, adding one extra factor into the overall reasoning for the cancellation. With the rapidity of breakouts in recent times, Melbourne has chosen not to take excessive risks unless more people take adequate precautions. 


The Australian race was also set to be hosted after the Brazilian Grand Prix. Brazil is currently a hotspot for the Covid-19 virus, leading to concern for the Victorian government. Plus, all overseas travellers coming into Australia are required to take a mandatory two weeks hotel quarantine to assess if symptoms occur. This led to logistic difficulty, as holding off the event for three weeks (two for quarantining and one for setup) would be infeasible.


So unless vaccination numbers increase, and the Victorian government feels comfortable enough to not impose these restrictions, then we may not see the Australian Grand Prix even in March.