Australian Grand Prix organisers admit they don’t know how fans invaded the track during the Formula One race at Albert Park but are committed to investigating the potentially “disastrous” incident.
Spectators broke through security barriers and accessed the track towards the end of Sunday’s race, with some reaching the car driven by Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg as it was parked at the exit of turn two.
The Australian Grand Prix Corporation (AGPC) fronted stewards and admitted to the safety and security failures, agreeing it was an “unacceptable situation that could have had disastrous consequences”.
On Monday, outgoing AGPC boss Andrew Westacott conceded the “uncontrolled ingress of people” onto the track was a breach of a “very robust protocol”.
“Something hasn’t gone quite right,” Westacott told reporters.
“That investigation has already been started.
“We’ve gone out and had a look at the area this morning and we’re going to make sure that we do a thorough investigation, as we’ve been requested to by the FIA and the F1 stewards.”
Video posted on social media showed fans climbing trackside barriers as they broke security lines.
Stewards ordered the AGPC to urgently produce a “remediation plan” to address the failures, including a review of the marshals protecting Hulkenberg’s car.
“All of this presented significant danger to the spectators; race officials and the drivers,” stewards said in a statement issued by the governing FIA.
Stewards also requested the FIA refer the incident to the governing body’s World Motor Sports Council to determine whether penalties should be applied.
The AGPC asked to have until June 30 to submit its review.
Westacott, who is due to finish his AGPC term on the same date, wants to see the continuation of the tradition of fans accessing the track in a controlled manner after the race is complete.
“I would hope that there’s not a ban and I don’t think there needs to be a ban,” he said.
Organisers said a crowd of 131,124 attended Albert Park for Sunday’s race with a record 444,631 spectators attending across the race week.
Red Bull’s reigning world champion Max Verstappen won the race which was plunged into late chaos by a slew of crashes and red flags.
– AAP
