Australian GP organisers launch investigation after track incursion by fans during race
A number of fans managed to break through security and onto the track before the Australian Grand Prix had finished; The FIA investigated the incident; F1 returns after a four-week break on April 28 as we head to Azerbaijan, with the race live on April 30 at 12pm
Monday 3 April 2023 10:54, UK
Australian Grand Prix organisers have launched an investigation to determine how a group of fans managed to break through security and get dangerously close to Formula 1 cars during the chaotic race that featured three red flags on Sunday.
Australian Grand Prix Corporation (AGPC) chief executive Andrew Westacott said the incursion onto the Albert Park circuit before the chequered flag could have resulted in serious injuries.
Only 12 of the 20 starters finished the race, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen winning his first Australian GP title after a late rolling start behind a safety car.
An event record 444,631 spectators attended the Australian GP over four days, including 131,124 on Sunday, but images of fans climbing high on safety fences and squeezing through a gap in the barricades to get onto the track emerged in the aftermath of the race.
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Race promotors faced the stewards on Sunday night and admitted to a charge of failing to take adequate safety and security measures.
"There's a controlled allowance of people to come onto the track after the race has concluded and after the safety car passes," Westacott told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
"Spectators had broken one of the lines, we don't know how that's occurred just yet.
"Motorsport is dangerous ... it could have been horrific.
"We've got a lot of CCTV and we've got a huge amount of footage we're going to have to pour through over the next couple of weeks.
"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."
The AGPC pledged to undertake comprehensive reviews, including with Victoria state police, and report back to FIA, the sport's world governing body, by June 30. The incident was also referred to the FIA World Motor Sports Council for further investigation to determine what penalties will apply.
"All of this presented significant danger to the spectators; race officials and the drivers," stewards said in a statement.
Westacott described it as an "uncontrolled ingress of people" and said they breached a "very robust protocol."
He said he hoped the track incursion did not lead to a ban on fans being allowed onto the track, in a controlled manner, after future races are completed.
Spectator hit by debris after Magnussen incident
A spectator at the Australian GP suffered a cut to his arm when struck by a piece of debris from Kevin Magnussen's car, putting further spotlight on organisers' safety protocols.
Will Sweet told Australian radio station 3AW he was standing with his fiance on a packed hill just off turn two at Albert Park during Sunday's race when the Danish Haas driver's car hit the track-side barrier, sending his tyre and debris flying into the air.
"It slapped me in the arm and I was just standing there bleeding," he said.
"My arm was covering where my neck would have been, but if that had hit my fiance, it would have got her right in the head.
"I realised how big it was and how heavy it was. Part of it was shredded and really sharp, if it hit me in a different angle, it could've been horrendous," he added.
Australian media published a picture of Sweet holding a large piece of debris with blood trickling down his forearm and another showing him having treatment from a medical official at the track.
Sweet said the area he was standing was packed, with young children around, and that no race officials came to assist him.
AGPC boss Westacott said it looked like a "freak one-off" incident but that organisers would investigate.
"The debris fences are consistent around the world. We're compliant with our FIA regulations," he told Australian media on Monday.
At the 2001 Australian Grand Prix, a track marshal was killed when hit by the wheel of Jacques Villeneuve's car following a crash with Williams' Ralf Schumacher.
What's next?
Due to the cancellation of the Chinese Grand Prix, there is now a four-week break until the 2023 Formula 1 season resumes with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at Baku's stunning street circuit.
The action is all live on Sky Sports F1 from April 28-30, with Sunday's race at 12pm.
Between now and then, we will be bringing you all the latest F1 news via the Sky Sports app and website.
