Prix hinges on virus ban

NEXT week’s Australian Formula One Grand Prix will be postponed or cancelled if racing giant Ferrari is denied entry into the country because of coronavirus fears.

The federal government is weighing up issuing further travel bans, including on Italy, which would stop Ferrari staff leaving their headquarters in Maranello for Melbourne.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed on Tuesday that the government is looking into bans on Italy, along with South Korea, where the virus has spread rapidly.

“There are no options off the table, I can assure you. And we’ll be always putting the health of Australians first,” he told the ABC.

Any ban on Italy would force the F1 season opener at Albert Park to be abandoned, postponed or drastically altered. F1 managing director

Ross Brawn said if one team was ruled out of competing, then any race could not count for series points.

“If a team is prevented from entering a country we can’t have a race,” Brawn said.

“Not a Formula One world championship race, anyway, because that would be unfair.

“Obviously if a team makes its own choice not to go to a race, that’s their decision.

“But where a team is prevented from going to a race because of a decision of the country then it’s difficult to have a fair competition.”

Four-time F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel lives in Switzerland, while Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc is based in Monaco, so the pair could still travel to Australia.

But a ban on Italy, which would join China and Iran as travel-affected countries, would still rule out Ferrari’s squad of mechanics and support staff from being in Melbourne.