The Australian Grand Prix, one of the most prestigious events in motorsport, made headlines for all the wrong reasons when a large group of fans invaded the track before the race had officially finished. The incident, which occurred at Melbourne’s Albert Park, was captured on footage and showed a “large group” of the 131,000-strong crowd squeezing through barriers and climbing fences just meters from speeding cars. Some even reached the stranded Haas of Nico Hulkenberg on the exit of turn two.
This incident was a serious breach of the sporting code, according to the sport’s governing body, the FIA. The Australian Grand Prix Corporation’s CEO, Andrew Westacott, said that the outcome could have been horrific. The FIA has demanded that organisers urgently present a formal remediation plan, as security measures and the expected protocols were not enforced, resulting in an unsafe environment for spectators, drivers, and race officials.
Westacott has promised to investigate the breach by trawling through security cameras to find out how it occurred. He stated that there is a controlled allowance of people to come on to the track after the race has concluded and after the safety car passes. However, spectators had broken one of the lines, and officials are unsure of how that happened. With a significant amount of CCTV footage to go through, they will need to pour through it over the next few weeks.
While the incident was not malicious, it highlights the dangers of motorsport. Will Sweet, a spectator who was standing with his fiancee on a packed hill just off turn two, was struck by a piece of debris from Haas driver Kevin Magnussen’s car. He suffered a cut to his arm and was treated by medical officials at the track. Sweet said that if the debris had hit his fiancee, it would have hit her right in the head. The Australian media published pictures of Sweet holding a large piece of debris with blood trickling down his forearm.
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Formula One, F1, Australian Grand Prix, Sport, Racing, F1 2023
