Former champion says 'I would have gone ahead and done it anyway'

Former Formula 1 champion Alan Jones says that the Australian Grand Prix should not be rescheduled for later in the 2020 season, saying that he would have pressed on with the weekend regardless of the coronavirus pandemic.

Jones, who won the world title in 1980 with Williams, says that he would have voted to continue with the GP weekend but concedes that the sensible decision was to call time on proceedings.

“From my point of view I would have gone ahead and done it anyway but you have to be sensible about the whole thing,” Jones told the Guardian.

“Doing commentary for Channel 10, we had to be on top of the whole deal, seeing what was going on. Right up until Friday we all thought that we can keep control of all of this. The catalyst to a certain degree was McLaren. That’s what lit the fuse.

“It is a big blow for Aussie sport, people have come from inter-state and internationally. I spoke to a pommie on Friday and he had flown from bloody England to come here, how bad would that be?”

Jones said that hindsight is a wonderful thing and that, looking back, it was never a good idea for Formula 1 to make the trip to Australia.

CEO of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation (AGPC) Andrew Westacott has said that he hopes the race can be rescheduled for later in the 2020 Formula 1 season, but Jones said that this is not something that should be pursued.

“My personal opinion is no they can’t run it again this year,” added Jones. “If I was a betting man I would advise against it.”

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