Australian Grand Prix bans spectators from Albert Park track

Fans will no longer be allowed trackside to watch the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park after organisers acted following a dangerous track invasion last year.

The Australian Grand Prix Corporation has decided to ban spectators for at least the 2024 event and possibly permanently, confirming its decision in a statement released on Thursday.

It comes after Formula 1 fans were able to bypass security and step through a barrier to enter the track while cars were still completing cool-down laps at high speeds in a potentially life-threatening incident at the end of the 2023 Grand Prix.

Videos published online also showed fans posing with the parked vehicle of Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg, whose car’s warning light was flashing red due to potentially harmful electric discharge.

“The Australian Grand Prix Corporation advises that given the ongoing FIA investigation into the early track breach at the conclusion of the 2023 event, there will be no track access for patrons following the Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix 2024,” the AGPC’s statement read.

“Decisions regarding patron access to the track at the conclusion of future races will be made at a later date.”

More than 440,000 fans attended the Australian Grand Prix weekend in Melbourne last year, where a chaotic race unfolded which was the first in F1 history to be restarted three times after a series of red flags due to crashes and mechanical failures.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claimed victory over Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), while Australian Oscar Piastri recorded the first points of his F1 career with an eighth-placed finish in his maiden home Grand Prix.