McLaren withdraw from Australian Grand Prix due to coronavirus

British team becomes the first to pull out of this weekend’s season-opener in Melbourne after team member contracts coronavirus

McLaren have withdrawn from the Australian Grand Prix this weekend after a team member tested positive for coronavirus, throwing Formula One’s season-opening race into major doubt.

A member of staff had shown signs of symptoms after flying from the United Kingdom to Melbourne via a stop in Asia, and the Woking-based team confirmed that test results confirmed they had the Covid-19 virus.

The individual is the first member of the Formula One paddock to contract the virus, and the team took an immediate decision to pull out of the race even though the person has been in self-isolation since first showing signs of coronavirus.

A McLaren statement read: “McLaren Racing has confirmed this evening in Melbourne that it has withdrawn from the 2020 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, following the positive test of a team member for the coronavirus. The team member was tested and self-isolated as soon as they started to show symptoms and will now be treated by local healthcare authorities.

“The team has prepared for this eventuality and has ongoing support in place for its employee who will now enter a period of quarantine. The team is cooperating with the relevant local authorities to assist their investigations and analysis.

“Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing, and Andreas Seidl, Team Principal of McLaren F1, informed Formula 1 and the FIA of the decision this evening. The decision has been taken based on a duty of care not only to McLaren F1 employees and partners, but also to the team’s competitors, Formula 1 fans and wider F1 stakeholders.”

The disruption is unlikely to end there, with F1 facing increasing pressure to cancel the Australian Grand Prix after world champion Lewis Hamilton questioned why the race was going ahead at all.

"I am very, very surprised we are here," Hamilton said in a press conference on Thursday on the eve of the new season.

"It's great we have races but it's shocking we are sitting in this room. (There are) so many fans there and it seems like the rest of the world is reacting - probably a little bit late.

"But we are seeing Trump shutting down the borders, the NBA has been suspended yet F1 continues to go on."

The six-time world champion claimed that the reason the Grand Prix is still scheduled to go ahead as planned is because “cash is king”, and added: "I just urge everyone to be as careful as you can be - touching doors; I hope everyone has hand sanitiser.

"I saw all the fans going on like it was a normal day, but I don't think it is. I really hope we go through the weekend and don't see any fatalities."

Four members of Haas F1 have also been tested for coronavirus, with results coming back negative.