Melbourne (AFP)

Affected by the coronavirus pandemic, will the Australian Grand Prix take place as planned? The holding of the first round of the Formula 1 World Championship, from Friday to Sunday, is uncertain, after the withdrawal Thursday of the McLaren team, one of whose members tested positive.

The majority but not all of the stakeholders (race organizers, F1 promoter, International Automobile Federation and team managers) declared themselves in favor of not taking place during of a meeting Thursday evening, told AFP a source familiar with the matter.

Pending an official communication, a circuit official indicated that he had received instructions to open the doors to the public normally at 08:45 local time (22:45 French time, 21:45 GMT), the first free practice being scheduled at 12:00 02:00 / 01:00).

In recent days in Melbourne, eight members of the paddock have been tested for the new coronavirus. McLaren staff proved positive, prompting the British team to withdraw "for the well-being not only of McLaren F1 employees and its partners, but also of rivals, fans and of all of its participants. "

A ninth person, "not associated with an F1 team, the FIA ​​or a supplier," was also tested, the GP promoter said in a statement Thursday evening. This result is not yet known.

Earlier in the day, the presence in Melbourne of the ten F1 teams, their twenty drivers and hundreds of other employees had caused some discomfort, including the six-time world champion and defending champion, Lewis Hamilton, was the echo.

- "Money is king" -

"I am very, very surprised that we are here," said the Briton at a press conference. "It is good that there are car races but, for me, it is shocking that we are all sitting in this room."

"I see people going about their business as if everything is normal but it is not," said the Mercedes driver, who will try to conquer a seventh world title this year which would make him equal to Michael Schumacher.

"Money is king," he said, when asked about the holding of the Grand Prix in a country where more than a hundred cases of coronavirus and three deaths have been recorded. "I don't see why I shouldn't state my opinion," said Hamilton.

"It is normal to ask the question," conceded for his part the quadruple German world champion Sebastian Vettel. "But I'm not the one who has to judge," added the Ferrari driver, noting that he and his counterparts "rely on other people to trust them."

However, he raised the possibility of seeing the pilots plead for the postponement of the race if the situation were to worsen considerably by Sunday.

It has already been decided that the second round of the World Championship, the Bahrain GP on March 22, will take place behind closed doors. The Chinese GP, which was scheduled to take place on April 19, was postponed to an unspecified date and threats to Vietnam's were threatened on April 5.

- Hamilton favorite -

These developments on the Covid-19 front make us forget the challenges of this first round of the 2020 season.

Hamilton, 35, and Mercedes are still leaving very long favorites, in particular thanks to their new revolutionary device called "DAS" (Dual Steering System), which allows to modify the geometry of the front wheels of the single-seater while driving it.

But they will still have to reckon with Ferrari, even if the Italian team was somewhat behind in pre-season testing, as well as Max Verstappen and his Red Bull-Honda.

At 22, the Dutchman intends to compete with them, or even why not, get ahead of them. Asked Thursday to find out how he intended to overtake his competitors on a track which is not known to facilitate him, he replied: "I will not overtake anyone except the retarded."

© 2020 AFP