Organisers of the Australian Grand Prix have announced that there will be no track access for fans at this year's Grand Prix.

The move follows an incident at the end of last year's race when a large group of spectators managed to break the security lines and access the track while the race was still ongoing.

Those fans were able to reach Nico Hulkenberg's stranded Haas, which was parked at exit of Turn 2 and which still had its light flashing red - i.e. the car was in an unsafe condition with possible electrical discharge - all of which, according to the FIA, presented significant danger to the public, race officials and drivers.

Furthermore, it was subsequently revealed that a spectator was hit by debris following Kevin Magnussen's encounter with the barriers at the second restart of the afternoon, as the event became increasingly confused drawing severe criticism from fans, drivers and team bosses.

However, it is the fact that fans were able to access the track during the lengthy delay ahead of the final restart, a breach of the International Sporting Code, that caused the FIA to launch an investigation having warned that there must be no further transgressions.

However, there were further transgressions, not least at the Brazilian Grand Prix, where fans ran on to the track before the finish, while, somewhat ironically, the FIA itself was in trouble after a group of photographers was given access to the Baku pit lane before the race had ended.

Today, the Australian Grand Prix Organisation issued a brief statement warning that fans will not be allowed onto the track at all this year.

"The Australian Grand Prix Corporation advises that given the ongoing FIA investigation into the early track breach at the conclusion of the 2023 event, there will be no track access for patrons following the Formula 1 Roles Grand Prix," it read.

"Decisions regarding patron access to the track at the conclusion of future races will be made at a later date."

Fans running on to the track to cheer their heroes has a long tradition in the sport, and at circuits like Monza and Silverstone it has become part of the magic.

However, what with races increasingly being held in cities, ticket prices beyond the reach of most, and the likely scrapping of the more traditional tracks, this is unlikely to be a problem for much longer.