Australian Grand Prix Loses Court Appeal Over $2.84m Payout
The Australian Grand Prix Corporation has been forced to swallow a costly defeat in court, after failing to overturn a $2.84 million damages order linked to a scrapped Robbie Williams concert at the height of COVID fears in 2020.
A three-judge Court of Appeal panel on Thursday backed a 2024 Victorian Supreme Court ruling, leaving race organisers on the hook to live music promoter World Touring Melbourne over what the courts found was a breach of contract.
A Grand Prix weekend that never was
The 2020 Formula One season was meant to roar into life at Melbourne’s Albert Park on March 13. Instead, the event was axed just hours before the gates were due to open, as the looming threat of COVID-19 finally shut it down.
Williams, whose hits include Let Me Entertain You and Angels, had been booked to perform at Lakeside Stadium the following day as part of the Grand Prix entertainment program. His show never happened either.
World Touring Melbourne took the Grand Prix organisers to court in 2024, arguing the concert was cancelled on the basis of misleading information about government health advice.
The Sutton message at the heart of the case
In his original judgment, Justice Clyde Croft found that the Australian Grand Prix Corporation had deceived the promoter when it pointed to Victoria’s then chief health officer, Brett Sutton, as the decisive hand behind the cancellation.
At 4:25pm on March 13, organisers emailed World Touring Melbourne, saying Dr Sutton had advised that the Grand Prix either be cancelled or staged without spectators. The implication: health authorities had pulled the pin, and the Williams concert had to go with it.
But that wasn’t what actually happened.
Earlier that day, Dr Sutton had texted Grand Prix officials, expressing support for the decision to cancel the Williams concert, while making clear the final call rested with organisers themselves. No formal direction to shut it down had been issued.
Justice Croft ruled that this gap between what was said privately and what was relayed to the promoter crossed the line into misleading conduct. He ordered the corporation to pay $2.84 million to World Touring Melbourne for lost earnings.
Appeal shut down
The Australian Grand Prix Corporation tried to overturn that decision, but the Court of Appeal unanimously refused its bid. The three justices backed Justice Croft’s findings and left the damages award intact.
Their ruling cements the promoter’s victory and underscores how critical those internal communications became once the dust settled on a chaotic weekend.
While Albert Park fell silent and the Williams show never went ahead, other major events rolled on in Melbourne that same weekend, including National Rugby League fixtures and a concert at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl.
The Grand Prix never got out of the pits. The legal fallout just did.
