Ocon: Australian GP cancellation was 'quite a shock'

Published on 27 Mar 2020 12:59

By: Fergal Walsh

Esteban Ocon admits that it was “quite a shock” to hear about the cancellation of the Australian Grand Prix earlier this month, hours before the first free practice session was set to get underway.

After all ten teams arrived in Melbourne two weeks ago, a member of the McLaren team tested positive for COVID-19, which put the event in major doubt.

On the morning of the first two practice sessions, it was announced that the event would not go ahead and the start of the season was delayed.

Since Australia's announcement, six races have been postponed while Monaco has confirmed that its race will not be held in 2020.

MORE: Ricciardo upset by Monaco cancellation: 'That one hurt me'

In a column for Formula1.com, Ocon wrote: “It was quite a shock to receive the news when I woke up on Friday to be leaving the race. I went to sleep quite early on the Thursday night.

“When I woke up, I was about to go in the shower and I saw tonnes of messages from Cyril and many other people saying someone from McLaren had tested positive and the race was compromised.

“It was a big shock. I was half asleep, half-awake, so it was tricky to fully understand the situation.”

Ocon arrived at Albert Park wearing a black face mask, asserting that he wanted to take every precaution availble in order to race, having not done so since Abu Dhabi in 2018.

“I found Australia pretty strange,” he stated. “I decided to wear a mask when I arrived and left the track on Thursday.

“It was well over 450 days since I last arrived at a race weekend in preparation for a race and I wanted to take every measure possible to not miss out, it’s been too long. I’ve trained this whole time and I wanted to be as strong as possible.

“So I thought it would be best to be cautious with what’s happening and be sensible for others. Of course, it’s out of all our hands with what’s going on, but I wanted to make sure I was doing all I could to be ready. I didn’t want anything stopping me from racing again.”

F1 News Esteban Ocon Renault

Total queries: 4
Total time: 0.25306701660156
time	sincestart	caller	annotate	bt	desc
	0.000573				instantiate query log (0Q - total module time: 0.00082111s)	""
	0.001399				boot (0Q - total module time: 0.00013185s)	""
	0.001535				translation-init (1Q - total module time: 0.00121593s)	""
0.00034595	0.002389	/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php		/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/dbal/lib/Doctrine/DBAL/Statement.php:189(stopQuery) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Repository/Redirect.php:105(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Entities/Redirect.php:112(findByOrigin) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/Redirects.php:108(getRedirectOrFalse) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:115(checkForDBRedirects) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/website.php:260(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php:11(require_once)	SELECT redirects.id, redirects.origin, redirects.referer FROM redirects WHERE redirects.origin = :origin ORDER BY id	{"origin":"\/en\/news\/f1\/254802\/ocon-australian-gp-cancellation-was-quite-a-shock"}
	0.002755				controller::news/f1/254802/ocon-australian-gp-cancellation-was-quite-a-shock (2Q - total module time: 0.05487490s)	""
0.00046992	0.003650	/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php		/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/dbal/lib/Doctrine/DBAL/Statement.php:189(stopQuery) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Repository/Article.php:389(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:127(findNextArticle) {"function":"F1T\\Controllers\\{closure}","class":"F1T\\Controllers\\News","object":{"current_page":"news"},"type":"->","args":[]} /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/Cache.php:144(call_user_func) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:158(lazyFetch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:47(action_Index) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:269(dispatch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:195(_load) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/website.php:260(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php:11(require_once)	SELECT Articles.ArticleId AS ArticleId, Articles.RewriteUrl AS RewriteUrl, Articles.ArticleType as ArticleType, Articles.Category as Category, Articles.cntnlang AS cntnlang, RacingSeries.RewriteUrl AS RacingSeriesRewriteUrl FROM Articles INNER JOIN RacingSeries ON Articles.RacingSerieId = RacingSeries.RacingSerieId WHERE Articles.cntnlang = :siteLang AND Articles.SiteId = :siteId AND Articles.Activated = 1 AND Articles.PublishDate < :publishDate AND Articles.ArticleType IN (:param0, :param1, :param2) AND Articles.ArticleId > :articleId ORDER BY Articles.ArticleId ASC LIMIT 1	{"siteLang":"en","siteId":"1","publishDate":"2026-02-04 08:05:00","articleId":254802,":param0":"Nieuws",":param1":"LiveRaceReport",":param2":"Liveblog"}
0.02721691	0.004160	/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php		/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/dbal/lib/Doctrine/DBAL/Statement.php:189(stopQuery) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Repository/Article.php:318(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:128(findPrevArticle) {"function":"F1T\\Controllers\\{closure}","class":"F1T\\Controllers\\News","object":{"current_page":"news"},"type":"->","args":[]} /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/Cache.php:144(call_user_func) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:158(lazyFetch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:47(action_Index) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:269(dispatch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:195(_load) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/website.php:260(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php:11(require_once)	SELECT Articles.ArticleId AS ArticleId, Articles.RewriteUrl AS RewriteUrl, Articles.ArticleType as ArticleType, Articles.Category as Category, Articles.cntnlang AS cntnlang, RacingSeries.RewriteUrl AS RacingSeriesRewriteUrl FROM Articles INNER JOIN RacingSeries ON Articles.RacingSerieId = RacingSeries.RacingSerieId WHERE Articles.cntnlang = :siteLang AND Articles.SiteId = :siteId AND Articles.Activated = 1 AND Articles.PublishDate < :publishDate AND Articles.ArticleType IN (:param0, :param1, :param2) AND Articles.ArticleId < :articleId ORDER BY Articles.ArticleId DESC LIMIT 1	{"siteLang":"en","siteId":"1","publishDate":"2026-02-04 08:05:00","articleId":254802,":param0":"Nieuws",":param1":"LiveRaceReport",":param2":"Liveblog"}
	0.057634		cacheAble: yes		module:News\Result (0Q - total module time: 0.00013709s)	""
	0.057775		cacheAble: yes		module:News\Photos (0Q - total module time: 0.00010204s)	""
	0.057879		cacheAble: yes		module:News\Trending (0Q - total module time: 0.00011587s)	""
	0.057997		cacheAble: yes		module:News\Reply (1Q - total module time: 0.18432498s)	""
0.17424107	0.058459	/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Repository/CommentVotes.php		/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/dbal/lib/Doctrine/DBAL/Connection.php:1323(stopQuery) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Query/Exec/SingleSelectExecutor.php:31(executeQuery) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Query.php:325(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/AbstractQuery.php:1212(_doExecute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/AbstractQuery.php:1166(executeIgnoreQueryCache) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/AbstractQuery.php:901(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Repository/CommentVotes.php:192(getResult) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/CommentVotesManager.php:46(getCommentVotesByVoteIp) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Modules/News/Reply.php:101(getCommentVotesByIP) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ModuleBase.php:115(internalRender) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ModuleBase.php:89(captureOutput) {"function":"F1T\\{closure}","class":"F1T\\ModuleBase","object":{"_amp":false},"type":"->","args":[]} /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/Cache.php:144(call_user_func) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ModuleBase.php:92(lazyFetch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/ViewRenderer/TwigExtensions/ModuleRenderer.php:35(fetch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:549(renderModule) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:182(block_mainContent) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:62(displayBlock) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:182(block_content) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:715(displayBlock) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:405(doDisplay) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:378(displayWithErrorHandling) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:45(display) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:405(doDisplay) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:378(displayWithErrorHandling) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:46(display) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:405(doDisplay) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:378(displayWithErrorHandling) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:390(display) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/TemplateWrapper.php:45(render) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php:318(render) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/ViewRenderer/TwigRenderer.php:115(render) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ViewTrait.php:98(render) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ViewTrait.php:79(renderViewFile) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/website.php:261(render) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php:11(require_once)	SELECT c0_.CommentId AS CommentId_0, c1_.Vote AS Vote_1 FROM Comments c0_ INNER JOIN CommentVotes c1_ ON (c1_.CommentId = c0_.CommentId) WHERE c0_.ArticleId = ? AND c1_.VoteIp = ?	[254802,"216.73.216.130"]
	0.242326		cacheAble: no		module:Sidebar (0Q - total module time: 0.00034690s)	""
	0.242676				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00001383s)	""
	0.242691				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::gpschedule (0Q - total module time: 0.00000310s)	""
	0.242694		cacheAble: yes		module:GpSchedule (0Q - total module time: 0.00013113s)	""
	0.242829				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::results (0Q - total module time: 0.00000405s)	""
	0.242834		cacheAble: yes		module:Results (0Q - total module time: 0.00010204s)	""
	0.242938				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::testcalendar (0Q - total module time: 0.00000286s)	""
	0.242942		cacheAble: yes		module:TestCalendar (0Q - total module time: 0.00010014s)	""
	0.243045				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00000501s)	""
	0.243050				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00001192s)	""
	0.243063				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::relatednews (0Q - total module time: 0.00000286s)	""
	0.243066		cacheAble: yes		module:RelatedNews (0Q - total module time: 0.00010514s)	""
	0.243173				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::whoischatting (0Q - total module time: 0.00000501s)	""
	0.243179				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00000215s)	""
	0.243181				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::poll (0Q - total module time: 0.00000095s)	""
	0.243183		cacheAble: no		module:Poll (0Q - total module time: 0.00159407s)	""
	0.244778				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00000501s)	""
	0.244784				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00000191s)	""
	0.244786				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::gpcalendar (0Q - total module time: 0.00000095s)	""
	0.244789		cacheAble: yes		module:GpCalendar (0Q - total module time: 0.00296593s)	""
	0.247759				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::driver_Info (0Q - total module time: 0.00000906s)	""
	0.247770		cacheAble: yes		module:Driver\Info (0Q - total module time: 0.00013399s)	""
	0.247907				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::team_Info (0Q - total module time: 0.00000596s)	""
	0.247914		cacheAble: yes		module:Team\Info (0Q - total module time: 0.00010610s)	""
	0.248022				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::linkedKeywords (0Q - total module time: 0.00000596s)	""
	0.248029				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::gpsidebarnavigation (0Q - total module time: 0.00000191s)	""
	0.248032		cacheAble: no		module:GpSidebarNavigation (0Q - total module time: 0.00042605s)	""
	0.248461		cacheAble: yes		module:Layout\Footer (0Q - total module time: 0.00010300s)	""
	0.248566		cacheAble: yes		module:News\Breaking (0Q - total module time: 0.00449491s)	""
	0.253065				done	""

Ocon: Australian GP cancellation was 'quite a shock'

Trending news

Replies (2)

Dert38

essaouira311

Grand Prix of Belgium

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Race / Startgrid

Grand Prix of Belgium

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

World Championship standings 2023

Test calendar

Related news

Ocon excited for Italian Grand Prix after promising Belgian GP result

Ricciardo 'happy all weekend' with Renault pace

Drivers say turn eight at Turkey would be 'flat' in current cars

Ocon confirms engine change for Belgian Grand Prix

Ricciardo confident of Renault long run pace after promising second practice

Give your opinion!

Will Bottas challenge Hamilton for the world championship in 2020?

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Driver profile

Team profile