Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is officially canceled because of COVID-19

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - IndyCar officials have made the decision to cancel all NTT IndyCar Series events through April – this includes Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

According to a statement, the decision came “after careful consideration, including regular communication with our event promoters, health officials, and the city administrations in our respective race markets regarding COVID-19.”

The Grand Prix was supposed to kick off Friday and run through Sunday, March 15.

On Wednesday, Mayor Rick Kriseman said the response to COVID-19 is a “fluid situation,” and said the Grand Prix was “still a go.” On Thursday, city officials made a change: no spectators will be allowed during the weekend events. 

Then, on Friday morning, IndyCar announced it was canceled altogether. 

RELATED: Closings and cancellations in Tampa Bay area due to coronavirus

IndyCar’s full statement can be read below:

After careful consideration, including regular communication with our event promoters, health officials, and the city administrations in our respective race markets regarding COVID-19, we have made the decision to cancel all NTT INDYCAR Series events through April. 

This begins with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg which was to begin today and run through Sunday, March 15 and continues through the AutoNation INDYCAR Challenge at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas which was to take place April 24-26.  Although we are disappointed to delay the start to this INDYCAR season and will miss our incredible fans who support us each year in St. Petersburg, Birmingham, Long Beach, and Austin, the safety of our fans, participants, staff, partners, and media will always remain our top priority.  We will continue to coordinate with public health experts and government officials as we determine the appropriate plans for resuming our schedule.

Meanwhile, NASCAR's races in Atlanta this weekend and Homestead next weekend were also supposed to be without fans, but both are now also postponed.