With the 2020 Australian Grand Prix cancelled because of the threat of Coronavirus, since we now had spare time why not look back at the previous cancelled F1 races.
There have been a few, and a lot of them were related to the organisers of the Grands Prix running out of money, so we have taken the more interesting races, and ones where the word cancelled is a little loose.
The irony of the 2020 Australian Grand Prix being cancelled due to Coronavirus is that the sport wrecking flu originated in China, where the Chinese Grand Prix is unlikely to have had more than the 500 fans that is being declared as the magic number to halt action.
Most Memorable Cancelled F1 Races
2020 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX
It seemed so unlikely a few months ago, but the Coronavirus claimed the Australian Grand Prix on the Friday that was meant to see the first cars tearing around Albert Park in anger.
With McLaren staff going down with the now famous ailment, and the team pulling out it was only a matter of time. As Ross Brawn had previously stated that a race wouldn’t count if all teams couldn’t attend.
Although, given the recent developments between governing bodies of F1 and Ferrari’s engines, Brawn probably meant that races couldn’t go ahead if they affected Ferrari.
We guess that Lewis Hamilton was right when he gave F1 a spray for having the race at all
One funny aspect was Vettel and Kimi buggering off the night before anything was announced. Pure Kimi, with hopes he tried to set a David Boon record on the way home.
1985 BELGIAN GRAND PRIX
So not quite a full cancel, but at least the first attempt had to be brushed.
Formula One turned up to the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium in June 1985, but the newly relaid surface broke up so badly that the Grand Prix had to be canned.
They did return a few months later, and the race was won by Ayrton Senna in a Lotus-Renault, another step on his way to legend status.
For more – 1985 Belgian Grand Prix
1991 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX
Perhaps this was a Grand Prix that should have been cancelled.
In conditions that were worse than the infamous wet 1989 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide, where the rain was so bad that most drivers originally refused to start, the 1991 version lasted just 14 laps before enough cars had crashed to stop the race.
Safety has improved since, but there were cars left in the middle of big long straight, that required the remaining car to duck and
Like the above Grand Prix, Ayrton Senna was beneficiary again, with half points awarded. Although it didn’t make any difference to the 1991 Championship, which had already been decided the race before.
Nigel Mansell was awarded second place despite crashing out as well, and this may have been the crash where he radioed the WIlliams crew to say the he thought he was unconscious.
1982 ARGENTINE GRAND PRIX
1982 was one of the great seasons of F1, but it was meant to have race in Argentina which never happened.
Politics was the cause for this no show – on track and off track.
On track this was a consequence of the F1 Drivers v FIA battle in South Africa, where the drivers bunkered themselves into a Hotel to protest licence changes by the governing body. Worried about
Off track, it was just the Falklands conflict to worry about.
1980 SPANISH GRAND PRIX
This was another race that wasn’t quite cancelled, but its World Championship status was certainly canned.
Another race that was the casualty of F1 politics.
One of the big F1 battles played off the track in the 1980’s, between the governing body FIA/FISA, and Bernie Ecclestone’s team based FOCA. The feeling was the governing body favoured the big manufacturers like Ferrari, so FOCA looked after the other teams like Williams and Lotus.
This came to a head for the 1980 Spanish where three big manufacturer teams Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Renault all withdrew.
With the big teams out, the race was declared non Championship, but still went ahead and was won by eventual champion Alan Jones in his Williams.
Read more: 1980 Spanish Grand Prix
2011 BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX
More politics but this time, but slightly more concerning than a beef between F1 teams.
With unrest in Bahrain around the time of the grand prix, and mass protest going on, F1 made the decision to avoid the grand prix in the desert for 2011. Which was originally being heavily protested by Damon Hill and Mark Webber.
Being the Bahrain Grand Prix, very few would have missed the actual race, on one of F1’s dullest track. Although, the recent running of this race at night at least makes it visually exciting.
