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Motorsport fans at the gates to the Australian Grand Prix this morning — some of whom had come from as far away as Brazil — have reacted angrily to the last-minute cancellation of the event.
Key points:
- Many fans were frustrated they queued up for hours this morning before learning the event was cancelled
- Most complaints were about the timing of the decision
- All ticket holders will get refunds but the decision has still cost fans and businesses money for travel and accommodation
Dozens of people had been lining up for hours when the news broke this morning, 90 minutes after Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews told media that the event would not be allowed to run with spectators present.
At a press conference, Australian Grand Prix Corporation chairman Paul Little apologised to fans for the sudden cancellation.
"The health and safety and welfare of the teams and people, the community generally, has to take precedence … and we look forward to hopefully being able to run this event at some later stage," he said.
"Could have told us f***ing earlier," one man lining up at the gates yelled after the announcement went out over a megaphone.
Another man questioned what other measures were being taken.
"Are you going to close schools and supermarkets and everywhere else where people gather?" he asked.
Hours waiting in line, money wasted
A man who called himself John, who travelled from Adelaide for the event, told ABC Radio Adelaide he had spent hours waiting in line to get into the race track this morning.
"Everybody on the planet knew that the race was off," he said. "But the last people that they would inform were those hardened race fans that turned up.
"[I] drove 12 hours to get over here, paid lots of money to go to the race, organised to come off work, and they haven't even got the decency to tell us that the race was off."
In a statement released this morning, organisers said all ticket holders would receive a full refund.
However, an angry caller to ABC Radio Melbourne who gave his name as Greg, from Albert Park, said his company had invested a "significant amount of money" flying in clients for the grand prix and putting together a "hospitality suite" for each of them.
"It's a significant, almost six-figure sum to do this," he said.
"In the last couple of weeks we've had an increasing number of potential clients saying, 'Look our company won't allow us to come to such an event.'
"This is just a ridiculously late decision by incompetent people."
Father and son Shane and Kyle Evans came down from Queensland for the race.
"This is our first time," Mr Evans said.
"We were optimistic this morning when we came out it would be going ahead but if not we'll just spend the rest of the week doing stuff in Melbourne.
He said they were disappointed with the communication.
"We were hearing reports this morning it was postponed then next minute they were saying, 'no, it's all ok' and then we come out here and find out they're not letting spectators in, so it is a bit annoying," he said.
Timing of the decision the main issue
Many seemed more annoyed by the timing of the decision rather than the cancellation itself.
Brisbane GP fan Michael Molloy told the ABC it was a "bit of a shame" the decision was made after punters had already made their way to Melbourne.
"At least I'd checked the news before heading out to the circuit though as they hadn't opened the gates yet," he said.
"It's ironic given the circumstances to let people mill around in close proximity for a few hours waiting to get in, only for them then to be told that because of the risks of mass gatherings the event was cancelled.
"At least we were able to get online and move our flights forward though before the pricing algorithm went mental."
Others said they would make the best of the situation.
Antonio Rodriguez said he had just arrived in Melbourne last night after flying 28 hours from his home in Brazil and it was his birthday.
"I just came to celebrate the racing. This shouldn't happen," he said.
"It's not cheap but it's a dream come true," he said, adding that he would just enjoy the sites of Melbourne instead.
"It's a lovely city," he said.
Social media divided on cancellation decision
On Facebook and Twitter, some social media also users lambasted the decision to cancel the event.
However, others believed that cancelling the race meeting was the sensible thing to do.
Meanwhile, Formula 1 drivers Daniel Ricciardo, Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris all expressed their support for the cancellation on social media.
Topics: motor-sports, sport, infectious-diseases-other, diseases-and-disorders, health, respiratory-diseases, melbourne-3000, vic, albert-park-3206
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