Vasseur: Any other decision would have been scandalous

Cancelled on Friday morning after McLaren had withdrawn due to a positive COVID-19 test for one of its team members the night before, Vasseur told

Blick that the decision was "correct and in line with the problems the world is facing".

That said, Vasseur's stance was not one unanimously adopted in the paddock, as Alfa Romeo was one of only four teams -- the others being McLaren, Ferrari and Renault -- who voted for the race to be cancelled after the news had broke.

Red Bull, AlphaTauri, Racing Point and Mercedes voted to continue, while Haas and Williams abstained.

Speaking for the teams in favour of continuing, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko told Auto Motor und Sport

However for Vasseur, it was an issue that had become bigger than the sport itself.

"The number of deaths is steadily increasing and Formula 1 is not at the centre of the world," he said. "We must respect the extraordinary state of emergency that we are experiencing on all continents. Any other decision would have been scandalous."