Australian Grand Prix in chaos

Chaos reigns in Australia as the season opening Formula 1 Grand Prix may or may not be back on after a split vote between teams left the fate of the coronavirus affected event up in the air.

On Thursday evening, following the confirmed case of the coronavirus in the McLaren camp, team principals met with race organisers and a majority vote was used to decide whether the race would go ahead.

Reports coming from the Albert Park paddock on Friday morning, after no announcement was forthcoming from F1, the FIA or Liberty Media, have suggested that the vote was split evenly 5-5.

This meant that Friday morning saw all ten teams and the assembled media arrive back in the paddock ready to work, but thoroughly bemused by the situation.

In the on-off saga that the Australian Grand Prix is quickly becoming, a further twist was added when the BBC, the outlet that originally confirmed the cancellation of the race, confirmed that Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel had already flown out of Australia.

Speaking on BBC 5Live, BBC Chief Formula One writer Andrew Benson said that the race is “still cancelled” but that there are “legal complications”.

As Lewis Hamilton put it in the Thursday press conference, “Cash is king,” and he may not be too far from the mark.

As the paddock curfew ended, Alfa Romeo, Haas, Racing Point, Williams and AlphaTauri were all ready to get to work. Reports say that the other teams are currently not on site.

GP fans will continue to provide updates as soon as they are made available.

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