“Formula 1 is not leaving Melbourne!”: Australian Grand Prix boss dismisses reports that F1 will move to Sydney

Australian GP CEO Andrew Westacott confirms that Melbourne will be hosting the race despite rumours emerging that it could end up in Sydney. 

Adelaide hosted the Australian GP from 1985-1995 before Bernie Ecclestone decided to bring it to the state of Victoria. It has been held in Melbourne ever since.

Melbourne traditionally hosted the first race of the calendar. It was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid 19 pandemic, but F1 returns to the land down under in 2022.

Australian broadcasters News7 reported yesterday that the NSW government was having advanced talks about a bid to steal the country’s only Grand Prix away from Melbourne.

Sydney has tried to bring the race to their city back in 2010 and 2015. They famously wanted the cars to race across the Harbor Bridge before the plan was dropped due to obvious safety reasons.

However, Westacott is sure that Formula 1 won’t be leaving Victoria in the near future.

 

We plan on keeping Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne beyond our current deal, says Westacott

“It’s a highly sought-after event. But the Australian Grand Prix is not going anywhere as far as I’m concerned,” he told Nine Network on Friday.

“We’ve got a strong relationship with Formula One, it’s been built up over a quarter of a century of trust. We’re here until 2025, but we can never be complacent, we should never take our eye off the ball, as Adelaide showed in the 1990s.”

“We want to keep the event here beyond 2025,” he added. Melbourne recently came out of a 3-month extended lockdown. The city is expected to host the 2022 Australian GP in April. Australia’s immigration minister has announced that only fully vaccinated people will be allowed to enter the country.

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The Grand Prix CEO is not very concerned about this condition. “I’m confident F1 has a model that is based on a 100% vaccination target. At the moment I think it’s about 98% across the travelling contingent.”

“They’ve actually seen that it’s a sound strategy for their own business continuity,” said Westacott. The 2022 F1 calendar sees the sport return to Canada, Japan, Singapore, and Australia.

“We will also see a new venue in Formula 1 next year, when lights go out in Miami, Florida.”