Official statement issued over 'dangerous' Australian Grand Prix weekend

The safety car leads the F2 drivers in heavy rain at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix weekend — Photo: © IMAGO

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Official statement issued over 'dangerous' Australian Grand Prix weekend

Heavy rain caused significant disruption in Melbourne over the weekend

Kevin McKenna

Monday 17 March 2025 22:57

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An official statement has been released regarding the 'dangerous' conditions which caused havoc for drivers at the Australian Grand Prix.

The 2025 Formula 1 campaign got under way in Melbourne over the weekend, with Lando Norris claiming the first victory of the year.

F1 HEADLINES: Norris slips up as FIA penalty verdict changes Australian Grand Prix result

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Defending champion Max Verstappen came home second at Albert Park ahead of Mercedes star George Russell.

Wet weather made keeping the car on the track something of an achievement in itself, with just 14 drivers managing to make it to the chequered flag.

Albert Park was hit with torrential rain on Sunday morning

A number of F1 stars crashed out of the grand prix amid testing conditions

Racing chief 'sorry' after late cancellation

Yet that was 14 more than the number of drivers who managed to finish the F2 feature race, after it was cancelled due to torrential rain.

A delayed formation lap was completed, as were a handful of laps behind the Safety Car, but the decision was taken by FIA Race Control to bring proceedings to a halt due to the significant threat posed to driver safety.

And with delaying the event even further not being a possible due to time restrictions, cancellation was the only option available.

"We really tried to make it happen because we wanted to have a race," said F2 CEO Bruno Michel in a statement.

The FIA took the unfortunate decision to cancel the F2 feature race in Melbourne

"And we were coming so many thousand kilometres away to Australia to race in front of the fans who came to see us racing.

"We postponed it as much as we could. We started behind the Safety Car and we had so many messages from the drivers saying: 'It's impossible, the visibility is absolutely nil, there's aquaplaning, it's dangerous'.

"And at the end of the day, safety first. We didn't want to take any risks.

"We feel absolutely sorry for the spectators and fans, that's really the last thing we wanted, but I think sometimes it's better to be reasonable and that's what we had to do today.

"It's not the best way to start the season but at least we had no drama and that was probably most important today."

Not the race we wanted, or the race you deserved, but safety comes first...

We go again in Bahrain!#F2 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/OYisfNMiVd
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) March 17, 2025