The Formula One governing body and Australian grand prix organisers have confirmed that the Melbourne race will go ahead later this month and ticket sales are up despite mounting concerns over the coronavirus outbreak.
The Australian government on Monday upgraded its travel advice for Italy – the home of F1 giant Ferrari – with the country hit by the deadly disease.
As well as advising against travel to virus-affected towns in the north of Italy, the government said healthcare workers or residential aged care workers who are returning from Italy or South Korea should not attend work for 14 days.
The season-opening MotoGP race in Qatar, scheduled for March 8, was also cancelled on Monday due to travel restrictions affecting passengers from Italy.
Despite these heightened measures, organisers say the F1 season-opener on March 15 will still be held and they have “robust health, safety and emergency management arrangements in place”.
They said that ticket sales are up on 2019, tracking to top the estimated attendance (324,100) across the four days which was the highest since 2005.
“Formula One has again confirmed overnight that the Australian Grand Prix is going ahead and we’re looking forward to welcoming them and the teams to Melbourne,” AGPC chief executive Andrew Westacott said in a statement.
“We continue to closely monitor the situation in the lead-up and are taking guidance from subject matter experts, including Victorian and national chief health officers and the Australian health protection principal committee.
“At this stage there is no indication of further travel bans, nor is there any indication that Formula One and the teams will not be arriving as usual.
“We are all systems go and the finishing touches are being put on the circuit, and freight and personnel are arriving in the coming days.”
Ferrari is reportedly seeking assurances its staff won’t face quarantine restrictions upon arrival in Australia.
The government’s chief medical officer Brendan Murphy didn’t address the F1 specifically but said he was comfortable that the outbreak in Italy was contained, confined and localised.
He said that’s why there was no travel ban required, as had been enforced with those passengers travelling from China or Iran.
“In Italy and South Korea, where they have large outbreaks but they are confined and (have) been localised, the risk, the proportionality of putting in a travel ban, was not justified in terms of its benefits to the health protection of the Australian community,” Murphy said.