Just three Formula 1 teams remained willing to race in the Australian Grand Prix had the event not been officially cancelled this morning.
The running of the 2020 F1 season-opener in Melbourne was thrown into doubt on Thursday when the McLaren team announced its withdrawal from the weekend when one of its crew tested positive for the coronavirus.
Meetings between F1 and the teams took place overnight, with it thought cancellation was a certainty.
However, the situation failed to find a resolution, with conflicting reports and statements from the paddock and race organisers throwing the event into chaos just hours before first practice was due to get underway.
Fans were subsequently banned from the circuit having queued up without word to get in beforehand, with the race set to be staged behind closed doors if it was to go ahead.
The possibility of just three teams being willing to race opened up the bizarre prospect of a repeat of the 2005 US GP, when just six cars took part at that controversial Indianapolis race.
Red Bull Racing, its sister squad AlphaTauri and Racing Point were in one camp, with the remaining teams in the other.
One senior team member told Autosport: “We’re racers, and we’re here to race.”
Their positions became clear at meeting with Ross Brawn at a hotel in downtown Melbourne late on Thursday night, following McLaren’s announcement.
The majority of the teams wanted to cancel the race, but Red Bull boss Christian Horner, AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost and Racing Point’s Otmar Szafnauer said their teams would take part unless the authorities say that the race can’t run on health grounds.
That triggered a complex overnight legal discussion between F1, the FIA and the Victorian government on what to do next and who would be responsible for the decision, with all the obvious financial implications.
Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault – three teams with manufacturer backing – were vehemently opposed to going ahead, with the world champions writing a letter explaining their decision.
On Friday morning only skeleton staffs from each arrived at the track.
The pitlane garages of Ferrari and Mercedes remained closed as of 10am, an hour before FP1, which is a breach of the regulations.
Renault was open but the cars were still in parc ferme condition, with covers on the cars.
The remaining six teams had their garages open but only three were making serious preparation to run had the track opened on time.