Ferrari wouldn't have taken part in the race regardless of decision on the fate of Australian GP

During the meeting which took place at the Crown Hotel four teams were against competing in the Australian GP (McLaren, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Renault) and four intending to take to the track (Red Bull, AlphaTauri, Racing Point and Mercedes). Haas and Williams restrained from voting. Then a phone call from President Daimler made Toto Wolff change his mind.

“The night of the Crown Hotel” seems like the title of a film, and perhaps this story actually is a bit like a film. The plot has everything you need, intrigues, twists, opposing sides and protagonists, and there are also those who suddenly (with a phone call) change the cards on the table. Let’s proceed in order.

After McLaren’s decision to retire from the race weekend, due to the positive Coronavirus test of one of its technicians present on the track, shortly after midnight on Thursday evening in Melbourne (therefore actually Friday) the Formula 1 team principals met in a room of the Crown Hotel in Melbourne to evaluate what to do a few hours ahead of the first day of track activity.

Even before sitting at the table, some positions were already very clear. Obviously that of McLaren, who had already declared its retirement from the Australian weekend, but not only.

In light of the news confirmed by the English team, Scuderia Ferrari Team Princial Mattia Binotto had already decided not to expose the Ferrari team members to any risk, therefore in fact the Maranello team (regardless of the decisions that would have been taken in the meeting) would not have taken part in the Australian Grand Prix anyway.

A confirmation of Ferrari’s choice also came from Sebastian Vettel’s decision, who returned to Europe the night well before the race cancellation was made official.

To proceed with the cancellation of the event, however, it would have been necessary for at least five teams to certify the decision not to go on the track, as stated in article 5.7 of the sports regulations: “An event can be canceled if fewer than 12 cars are deployed on the track.”

At the beginning of the meeting, only four teams confirmed their will not to race, namely Ferrari, McLaren, Alfa Romeo and Renault. On the other side of the table, the group of those who pushed to go regularly on the track was made up of Red Bull, Alpha Tauri, Racing Point and … Mercedes.

The world champion team was in favor of starting the activity by playing the two free practice sessions on Friday, then evaluating what to do at the end of the day. With Williams and Haas taking sides in favor of what would have been the majority (in fact abstaining), a stalemate started which lasted for a long time, without changing positions. There was therefore the potential to see twelve cars regularly on the track on Friday morning, but a call was made to change the balance: on the one hand Toto Wolff, on the other Ola Kallenius, president of the board of directors of Daimler group.

The Swedish manager’s call allegedly concerned the health concerns of the team’s staff following the news confirmed by McLaren.

After evaluating the situation with Kallenius, Toto Wolff returned to the table where the confrontation was taking place by changing position.

With Mercedes passed in the line-up of those who were against the weekend, the minimum number of single-seaters to guarantee the weekend was missing, and the FIA thus began the cancellation procedure.

The story continued with a curious media tail. The International Federation has formalized the cancellation of the Australian Grand Prix through a press release sent at 9 o’clock local time, all as scheduled if it were not that three minutes earlier a Mercedes press release had already reached the media in which the team underlined of “having sent a letter to the FIA and Formula 1 asking for the cancellation of the Australian Grand Prix 2020 (…) the physical and mental health and well-being of our team members and the wider F1 community are our top priority “.

A move that greatly irritated the other teams, both for the timing and for the content. None of the other teams reported having sent letters to the FIA, limiting themselves to underlining their support for the choices of the International Federation.

“Let’s say a clever move” – said an expert – “anticipate the FIA communications and claim that they were the ones to put pressure to cancel the race. Well, a few hours earlier they were in the front row to go out on the track … “.