The Monaco Grand Prix will not be part of the Formula 1 season for the first time since 1954 after organisers opted to cancel the race completely.
On Thursday, the FIA and F1 announced that Monaco was one of three races set to be postponed amid the coronavirus pandemic.
However, the Automobile Club de Monaco has followed that up with an emphatic statement announced it will cancel the race completely and not seek to reschedule.
The Monaco Historic GP, which was due to be held two weeks prior to the F1 race, has also been cancelled.
In its statement, the ACM said that “under no circumstances will it be possible to organise these events later this year”.
It said the decision had been made due to the “gravity of this crisis worldwide”.
The statement reeled off a list of reasons why the situation had become “no longer tenable”.
It included the current situation regarding the pandemic and its “unknown path of evolution” and the “lack of understanding” as to how it would impact the 2020 season.
It also made reference to the “uncertainty with regards to the participation of the teams” and the consequences of the “differing measures of confinement as taken by various governments worldwide”.
Addressing concerns specifically relating to Monaco, the statement also referenced the “multi-border restrictions for accessing the Principality of Monaco”, the pressure on “all implicated businesses” and their staff who are “unable to undertake the necessary installations”, plus the availability of the workforce and more than 1500 volunteers” required to run the events.
Monaco’s decision means F1 has one fewer race to try to reschedule. It joins Australia as a sidelined GP, as while that race has not been officially cancelled the likelihood of rescheduling it is extremely low.
That makes Bahrain, Vietnam, China, the Netherlands and Spain the current postponed races that need to be factored in.
F1’s traditional summer break has already been moved forward to March and April, during the now-free part of the year, to make room later on to help rejig the calendar.
