ISTANBUL

As many as 1,000 members of the Formula One paddock have been forced to make last-minute travel adjustments to reach Melbourne for the season-opening race, following the worsening crisis in the Middle East.

Some personnel are expected to miss the start of the championship altogether.

A more serious logistical problem, however, has been narrowly averted.

The race cars and essential equipment had already been transported from preseason testing in Bahrain, one of the nations now caught up in the conflict, before this week’s extensive flight disruptions began.

Travis Auld, chief executive of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, told Channel Nine on Monday that the cars were already stored in containers along the main straight at Albert Park Circuit, awaiting transfer into team garages ahead of the race weekend, which begins with practice on Friday.

He noted, however, that many team members have had to reroute their travel plans to avoid major transit hubs in countries such as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, where airports have been affected by Iranian missile strikes.

"You’re talking about teams, drivers, Formula One personnel, I’m guessing there’d be close to a thousand people that would have already booked their flights and would be landing somewhere between today, tomorrow, Wednesday – they had to all be changed," he said.

“But a lot of people around the world are doing the same thing and so you’re competing obviously with that increase in demand, but they’ve been able to sort it out.”

As an international sport with strong financial and operational links to the Middle East, Formula One has been significantly impacted by the recent developments.

Round four is still set to take place in Bahrain in early April, followed by round five in Saudi Arabia a week later, though Formula One officials said they are closely monitoring developments.

Tire supplier Pirelli called off its wet-weather testing in Bahrain because of the conflict, but some of its staff remained stranded in Manama, which was among the locations targeted in Iran's retaliatory drone strike.

Several members of the McLaren and Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team were also reportedly still in Bahrain, including Mercedes’ new reserve driver Frederik Vesti, who shared a post from the circuit two days ago.

Travis Auld stated that fans in Melbourne can expect to see the usual roster of Formula One drivers, but he did hint that some people may be unable to attend.

“The drivers will be here, the engineers will be here, the team principals will be here, they’re the ones that have been prioritized (for travel) and so you won’t see any sort of surprise drivers under a helmet,” he said.

“Some of the other ones (staff) are coming out now, probably you could continue the race without them, but luckily we’ve been able to get everyone that needs to be here.”