ROMAIN GROSJEAN revealed he first learned the Australian Grand Prix was called off after a message from Sebastian Vettel in the middle of the night.
Haas driver Grosjean says Vettel told him he was on the way to the airport as the pair had a Whatsapp exchange in the middle of the night.
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Sebastian Vettel was already on his way before the Australian Grand Prix was called off, according to Romain GrosjeanCredit: Getty
Romain Grosjean said he had a Whatsapp exchange with Sebastian Vettel in the early hoursCredit: EPA
F1 chiefs and Australian Grand Prix organisers came under fire for their insistence to go ahead and race despite the coronavirus crisis.
They eventually made the decision to call off the race two days before it was due to take place, while members of some teams were self-isolating.
By that stage all teams and drivers had descended upon Melbourne and Lewis Hamilton publicly criticised the decision to try and press on as planned.
Organisers were left with egg on their face and went on to scrap the next seven races up until June 14 in Canada.
Grosjean revealed he had no idea what was happening, but Vettel was already in the know from his Ferrari bosses.
The French driver said: “The rumours started happening on Thursday evening.
“Thursday into Friday I didn’t sleep very well. At 3am I was WhatsApp-ing with Sebastian Vettel.
“I was like ‘where are you, why are you awake?’ and he’s like ‘I’m going to the airport.’
“He was like ‘it’s cancelled, it’s not happening’. I said I haven’t heard anything official so I stay around.
“He said ‘my team has told me that I’m free to go so I’m gone’. So like 3, 4am on Friday morning in Melbourne time that’s when I knew things were going to not look right.”
The Australian Grand Prix was called off at the very last momentCredit: Reuters
The next race scheduled to take place is in Montreal on June 14.
Organisers for that grand prix say they will make a decision on whether the race can be staged in a few weeks after the first seven events were all postponed or cancelled.
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
