Formula One delayed the Australian Grand Prix from March to November as it would not have been able to accommodate hundreds of quarantine workers for 14 days when they arrived, Victoria’s state sports minister said Wednesday.
The Melbourne race usually opens the season but it was given a new November 21 date in changes announced on Tuesday’s 2021 schedule amid a COVID-19 crisis. The season will now start in Bahrain on March 28th.
The Australian Open tennis Grand Slam kicks off in Melbourne next month and Victoria’s sports minister Martin Pakula said it was easier for that sport to deal with quarantine rules.
“Tennis has been able to do that … but it’s not something Formula One has been capable of,” Pakula told reporters.
“In those situations … when you get the combination of that, the number of Australians returning … we think it made it better to have a Grand Prix later in the year if that would be possible.
“One of the beauties of buying 10 months for yourself is that I suspect things will look different in November in terms of how they will look in January.”
Australian Grand Prix Corporation chief executive Andrew Westacott said preparations for the Formula One race would be affected if it went ahead in March, with the team’s staff spending most of their time in rooms hotel.
“When you look at the preparations for setting up big business … and the logistics and challenges they face coming into a new season, they haven’t been able to work. in a strict quarantine arrangement, “Westacott said.
Pakula said he hoped the race could return to its traditional slot in 2022.