Australian Grand Prix boss speaks out after fan invasion stuns F1 world

Australian Grand Prix chief executive Andrew Westacott admits something "horrific" could have happened during Sunday's race at Albert Park after a number of fans illegally entered the track. Disturbing footage has emerged online showing a large group of spectators invaded the track during a chaotic Australian GP won by Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

Serious questions have been raised about security after spectators managed to access the track towards the end of Sunday's drama-filled Australian GP, with some reaching Nico Hulkenberg's Haas car as it was parked at the exit of turn two. Video posted on social media showed Formula One fans climbing trackside barriers, with some even managing to get out onto the track before the race finished.

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Verstappen eventually won under the safety car, with Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso rounding out the podium. In his first home grand prix, Melbourne-born Mclaren driver Piastri finished eighth to collect the first points of his young career.

Eight of the 20 drivers didn't finish a race, which featured two standing re-starts and one rolling re-start. Verstappen appeared to be cruising towards a comfortable victory with just two laps remaining, but a crash halted the race and a second red flag was ordered.

The situation led to a number of supporters spilling onto the track before the race had officially ended, with stewards ordering Australian Grand Prix organisers to urgently produce a "remediation plan" in response to the security breach. "All of this presented significant danger to the spectators; race officials and the drivers," stewards said in a statement issued by the governing FIA.

In one video two men could be seen standing on the track filming the cars on their mobile phones as they whizzed by centimetres away from the rogue spectators. Fans could be seen jumping the barriers to grab souvenirs from a scary crash involving Kevin Magnussen that saw the Haas driver forced to retire after losing a tyre from the heavy contact with a wall.

Aus GP bosses admit security breaches were 'unacceptable'

Organisers were told to provide a formal remediation plan to address the failures, including a review of the marshals protecting Hulkenberg's car. Stewards also requested that the FIA referred 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 into the dramatic aftermath to the race, which also saw one spectator left with a bloody arm after being struck by debris from a crash that happened at turn two. Fortunately, neither the man or anyone else was reported to have been harmed.

The Australian Grand Prix Corporation (AGPC) admitted to the safety and security failures and agreed that it was an "unacceptable situation that could have had disastrous consequences". Outgoing Australian Grand Prix boss Westacott said they were pouring over CCTV footage to get a gauge on the extent of the problem.

Westacott admitted the investigation could take weeks and suggested it was incredibly lucky that no one was seriously injured. “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,” he told the ABC.

“Motorsport is dangerous ... it could have been horrific. 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.”

with AAP

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