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 One cars before the chaotic race that featured three red flags had ended.
Australian Grand Prix Corporation (AGPC) chief executive Andrew Westacott on Monday said the incursion onto the Albert Park circuit before the checkered flag could have resulted in serious injuries.
“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.”
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. Vision 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.
Race promoters faced the stewards on Sunday and admitted to a charge of failing to take adequate safety and security measures.
“All of this presented significant danger to the spectators; race officials and the drivers,” stewards said in a statement.
The AGPC pledged to undertake comprehensive reviews 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 to determine what penalties will apply
