McLaren pull out of Australian Grand Prix to leave F1 in chaos with first race of season in jeopardy

MCLAREN have withdrawn from the Australian Grand Prix after a staff member tested positive for coronavirus - throwing the race into doubt.

News of a potential case inside the paddock emerged earlier in the week and the British team confirmed the diagnosis on Thursday morning.

A McLaren statement insisted the team had "prepared for this eventuality" but will nonetheless not partake in Sunday's race.

The employee had entered self-isolation after showing symptoms of the disease, along with four Haas team members.

However tests conducted on the Haas staff came back negative.

In confirming its exit from Melbourne, McLaren stated: "The team has prepared for this eventuality and has ongoing support in place for its employee who will now enter a period of quarantine.

"The team is cooperating with the relevant local authorities to assist their investigations and analysis.

"Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing and Andreas Seidl, team principal of McLaren F1, informed F1 and the FIA of the decision this evening.

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"The decision has been taken based on the duty of care not only to McLaren F1, employees and partners, but also to the teams' competitors, F1 fans and wider F1 stakeholders."

The news comes after reigning world champion, and former McLaren ace, Lewis Hamilton questioned the sport's decision to go ahead with its season opener.

Citing the suspension of all NBA fixtures, the 35-year-old admitted to being perplexed by race chiefs' plans.

Hamilton said: "Cash is King. I don't know why we are here.

"I don't feel like I should shy away from my opinion. The fact is we are here and I just urge everyone to be as careful as you can be in terms of touching doors and surfaces.

"For the fans, I hope they take precautions, too. As I was walking through the paddock and seeing everything going ahead as normal as if it is a normal day but I don't think it really is.

"I hope the fans stay safe and we go through this weekend and we don't see any fatalities or things come out in the future.

"I am really very, very surprised that we are here. It is great that we have races but for me it is shocking that we are all sitting in this room.

"It seems like the rest of the world is reacting, probably a little bit late, but we have seen Donald Trump shut down the borders from Europe to the States, the NBA has been suspended, yet Formula One continues to go on."

F1 had already postponed the Chinese Grand Prix and placed this month's race in Bahrain behind closed doors.

But no specific, large-scale measures have been enforced in Australia.

Also speaking out on the situation was Ferrari veteran Sebastian Vettel, who felt there could be a time when the race must be cancelled.

He noted: "My stand and I hope others would agree, we hope it doesn't get that far.

"If it were to get that far, then for sure you would pull the handbrake.

"We are a group of 20 guys and I think we got together over the last few years, for various circumstances and various topics, and I think we share a common opinion on big decisions and that would qualify as a very big decision.

"Ultimately, you look at yourself and I think we would be mature enough to look after yourselves and pull the handbrake in that case."