Opinion: The 2021 Australian F1 Grand Prix – will the lights go out at Albert Park?

Not too long ago Melbourne had its rebirth. The city re-opened, its famous cafe culture was on the up again and the beloved MCG was packed with screaming fans.

Fast forward to mid-June and Melbourne is unfortunately navigating their way out of yet another lockdown. What's more, Australia is undoubtably in the slow lane in terms of the vaccine roll-out. So, the idea of hosting various major events in the sporting capital seems highly implausible. Ironic really, as just a couple of months ago the idea of a double-header was on the table.

Last week, the cancellation of the F1 Singapore Grand Prix was announced. The race was set to take place on Sunday October 3 – the second year in a row the event has been removed from the calendar due to the coronavirus pandemic. Singapore's deal is now out of contract with some saying this could be the end of the road for the coveted event. 

This isn't the first cancellation this year as Canada has already been axed, then replaced by Turkey, which in turn was cut last month due to strict travel restrictions in the country. The removal of Singapore raises grave concerns for the F1 Australian Grand Prix – more so now than ever. 

As a Melburnian still living in fairly tight restrictions, checking daily case numbers, I can’t help but question – will F1 happen and if so, how?

Consider this first. Just recently the World Superbikes revealed it would not be coming to Australia for its round in November, which takes place at Phillip Island. A call made fairly early in the piece from commercial and TV rights holder, Dorna. 

Dorna also holds the rights to the MotoGP. I’m gutted to say but am calling it – that will be another event that pops up in your news feed any day now with the word ‘Cancelled'. This is another event run by the Australian Grand Prix Corporation.

Unfortunately, given the environment it poses various challenges. Unlike with F1, where there's the ability to control the 'bubble' in a limited number of hotels, the location isn't ideal in terms of security. 

Now that we know the lay of the land, let’s look at where we are at with F1. I spoke with CEO, Andrew Westacott, a couple of weeks ago and I have to say I was 50/50 at that stage. But, we weren’t in a lockdown then. We were actually in a good place and thought the worst was behind us. I do feel for the major task that he and his team have ahead of them and the clock is ticking.

"The event is in November, we start the build a couple of months before in September, we ideally want to be on sale three or four months out – there are going to be core items that need to be confirmed five months out," Mr Westacott said.

Victorian Minister for Sport, Martin Pakula, was front and centre at the press conference last weekend and one hot topic was the AFL Grand Final. If we lose it again I'm sure many Melburnians, myself included, will cry. One other talking point of that interview was F1 in Melbourne.

Minister Pakula did what most politicians are trained to do so well and danced around the answer. "I won't give you that update, I will say the Singapore decision is the Singapore decision, and it is not relevant to the discussions we are having."

All we were informed of is that the Australian Grand Prix Corporation has submitted a COVID Safe plan to the Victorian Government, which is obviously yet to be approved.

So if it does go ahead, what are the options? The first and perhaps less desirable one is for all teams and crew to arrive in Melbourne and quarantine.

I can tell you now after hearing from some people in the paddock, it's not going to be a welcomed task, nor will there be a big enough gap in the calendar following Brazil (another event also in doubt), taking into account travel time with the race on November 7.

I can't imagine F1 trying to persuade some of its drivers to sit in a hotel for a week or two, even if it is at a lavish five-star resort. And fair enough.

If that did happen, though, then there could be the possibility for fans and therefore zones would come into play. Yippee for us. Sign me up. I would buy my ticket in a heartbeat. But I truly don't see this happening. Sorry to break it to you.

However, there is now talk of the 'covid passport' whereby if internationals have been vaccinated then they can skip quarantine altogether. But we don't know that the vaccine is necessarily welcomed by all.

The other option and a way of life that F1 is very familiar with is the 'bubble'. This is more likely than the first option. This is quite the job, though, as it includes managing how the international contingent arrives in Australia, where they're accommodated, the arrangement of how they operate between hotel and the isolation zone on circuit, among other factors. And with this comes risk – to us, the community.

Obviously in this scenario it'd be too great a risk to have any fans anywhere near the track. We had fans at the Australian Open tennis; however, international players and staff all went through the 14-day quarantine. If I cast my mind back to that final week, I believe we went back into lockdown then thanks to another outbreak. Sigh.

This would also involve local volunteer marshals putting their hands up to be a part of the event, and also then having to quarantine for two weeks after unless already vaccinated. Another dimension to add to all of this is that we have no clear idea where we'll be with the vaccination roll-out by that point in the year.

So if the 'bubble' is the preferred option, that raises the question – is the Victorian Government willing to pay for a TV-only race? And if it does pay, what is the point? What's in it for fans, sponsors, Melbourne, Australia?

The answer – we are the sporting capital and what we have to lose is the Grand Prix itself. We have a contract to uphold. Pandemic or not, it could get ripped out from underneath us. I know a lot of people seem to hate the Grand Prix coming here because it doesn't make money. In fact, if anything it loses money, but it does put us on the world stage. We only want it to come to town, of course, if it's safe.

As a Formula 1 fan, a race fan and a Melburnian who can't wait for us to have our resurgence, I really wish the organisers the best of luck and would love for this to go ahead, but unfortunately I just don't  know if the Vic Government will say yes to the immense task.

I'd expect for some news to come surely by July. Stay tuned. We'll follow any developments for you.

Do you think it will go ahead and should it?

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