Full speed ahead for Australian Grand Prix despite Middle East travel freeze

Australian Grand Prix chief executive Travis Auld anticipates no impact on this weekend's Formula One season-opener at Melbourne's Albert Park from the travel issues caused by the conflict in the Middle East.



The U.S. and Israeli bombing of Iran at the weekend was followed by retaliatory strikes on Gulf States with the result that all activity in one of the world's main aviation hubs has ceased.



Formula One teams recently completed pre-season testing in the Gulf State of Bahrain and many team personnel were scheduled to pass through Qatar or the United Arab Emirates on their journey to Australia for Sunday's race.



"No doubts the events of the weekend have thrown out the travel plans for the teams and F1 themselves," Auld told Fox Sports on Monday.



"F1 are experts at moving people around the world and so they've quickly rescheduled flights. I'm told, everyone's now locked in and arriving within the required timeframes, and so there'll be no impact on our race.



The season-opener will be followed later in March by races in China and Japan before the first of the Gulf races on the Formula One calendar in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in April.