The chief of the Australian Grand Prix vowed a full investigation on Monday after fans invaded the track earlier than the race had formally completed, saying the end result “could have been horrific”.
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The sport’s governing physique, FIA, summoned organisers for an evidence late on Sunday after the race, ruling the invasion a severe breach of the sporting code and demanding they “urgently present a formal remediation plan”.
Footage confirmed a “large group” of the 131 000-strong crowd squeezing via limitations and climbing fences simply metres from rushing automobiles close to the conclusion of a drama-packed race gained by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Some have been capable of attain the stranded Haas of Nico Hulkenberg, which parked on the exit of Turn 2 after ending seventh.
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The FIA mentioned “security measures and the protocols which were expected to be in place for the event were not enforced resulting in an unsafe environment for the spectators, drivers and race officials”.
‘Unacceptable’
Australian Grand Prix Corporation boss Andrew Westacott mentioned organisers have been nonetheless undecided what occurred, however admitted it was unacceptable.
“There’s a controlled allowance of people to come onto the track after the race has concluded and after the safety car passes,” he informed nationwide broadcaster ABC.
“Spectators had broken one of the lines, we don’t know how that’s occurred just yet.”
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Westacott mentioned officers would trawl safety cameras to attempt to learn the way the breach occurred.
“We’ve got a lot of CCTV and we’ve got a huge amount of footage we’re going to have to pore through over the next couple of weeks,” he mentioned. “Motorsport is harmful… it may have been horrific.
“Nobody does anything malicious at motorsport, it’s an unbelievably well-behaved crowd but they, I think, had a degree of confusion. We don’t know how they got into the area without the right level of authority.”
Verstappen’s win, after the race was purple flagged 3 times, prolonged his lead over teammate Sergio Perez on the earth championship to fifteen factors after three grand prix.
Red Bull lead the constructors standings by 58 factors forward of Aston Martin, with Mercedes third.
AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX RESULTS:
1. Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull) 2hrs 32 min 38.271sec, 2. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) at 0.179, 3. Fernando Alonso (ESP/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 0.769, 4. Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 3.082, 5. Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull) 3.320, 6. Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) 3.701, 7. Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Haas-Ferrari) 4.939, 8. Oscar Piastri (AUS/McLaren-Mercedes) 5.382, 9. Zhou Guanyu (CHN/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari ) 5.713, 10. Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri-Red Bull) 6.052, 11. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari) 6.513, 12. Carlos Sainz (ESP/Ferrari) 6.594, 13. Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine-Renault) 4 laps, 14. Pierre Gasly (FRA/Alpine-Renault) 4 laps, 15. Logan Sargeant (USA/Williams-Mercedes) 5 laps, 16. Nyck de Vries (NED/AlphaTauri-Red Bull) 5 laps
Best lap: Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull) 1:20.235 on the 52nd lap
Did not end: Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari) 1 lap, Alexander Albon (THA/Williams-Mercedes) 8 laps, George Russell (GBR/Mercedes) 18 laps, Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Haas-Ferrari) 53 laps, Logan Sargeant (USA/Williams-Mercedes) 55 laps, Nyck de Vries (NED/AlphaTauri-Red Bull) 55 laps, Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine-Renault) 56 laps, Pierre Gasly (FRA/Alpine-Renault) 56 laps
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (AFTER THREE OF 23 RACES)
Drivers
1. Max Verstappen (NED) 69 pts, 2. Sergio Perez (MEX) 54, 3. Fernando Alonso (ESP) 45, 4. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) 38, 5. Carlos Sainz (ESP) 20, 6. Lance Stroll (CAN) 20, 7. George Russell (GBR) 18, 8. Lando Norris (GBR) 8, 9. Nico Hulkenberg (GER) 6, 10. Charles Leclerc (MON) 6, 11. Valtteri Bottas (FIN) 4, 12. Esteban Ocon (FRA) 4, 13. Oscar Piastri (AUS) 4, 14. Pierre Gasly (FRA) 4, 15. Zhou Guanyu (CHN) 2, 16. Yuki Tsunoda (JPN) 1, 17. Kevin Magnussen (DEN) 1, 18. Alexander Albon (THA) 1, 19. Logan Sargeant (USA) 0, 20. Nyck de Vries (NED) 0
Constructors
1. Red Bull 123 pts, 2. Aston Martin 65, 3. Mercedes 56, 4. Ferrari 26, 5. McLaren 12, 6. Alpine 8, 7. Haas 7, 8. Alfa Romeo 6, 9. AlphaTauri 1, Williams 1
By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse
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