Mercedes U-turn sparked Australian GP cancellation - Horner

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has blamed a Mercedes U-turn as the reason why Formula 1's season-opening Australian Grand Prix was cancelled.

Horner was eager for the race in Melbourne in mid-March to go ahead despite a McLaren team member testing positive for COVID-19, with the team deciding to withdraw, a decision he felt was "rather knee-jerk".

Although the initial consensus amongst the teams at the time was for the event to continue, Horner has revealed it was Mercedes who had a change of heart, not only opting to pull out but also refusing to supply engines to Williams and Racing Point.

Horner, speaking in a new column on the Red Bull website, has explained the circumstances behind the furore that led to F1 being criticised for its attempt to continue in the face of the global pandemic.

"As the authorities were still happy for the event to go ahead I suggested, as many of us did, that we should run on Friday as planned and re-assess the situation on a regular basis," said Horner.

"If people showed symptoms then they would be tested because they were turning them around pretty quickly, and if there were any further cases then we would make the decision on whether we should continue, but at least we would have started the event.

"It was McLaren’s decision to pull-out which they had every right to do given the circumstances but there is nothing in the rules that says if one team withdraws, the others have to do the same.

"Given the guidance at the time and the fact that other sporting events were taking place in Australia the same weekend, I pushed to run because there was only one positive test which resulted in a split vote among the teams.

"Ross [Brawn] called the FIA president, Jean Todt, who said he would go with the majority, so it was down to Ross as he had the final vote.

"He said he agreed with my suggestion, to do further tests and evaluate the situation in 24 hours, and he also wanted to get the event rolling. My feeling was that if the government and medical authorities felt it was safe for the race to go ahead, then as a race team we were prepared to race.

"But, soon after the meeting had ended, I had a telephone call from Ross at around 3am, who said we had a bit of a problem because Mercedes had changed their position. It also meant they would not supply engines to their customers.

"It turned the situation on its head and the eventual outcome changed. As a result, there was little choice for F1 but to cancel the event."

A further nine races have since been either cancelled or postponed, leading to what Horner has described as "strange times".

The hope remains the season will start in Austria in early July.

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