The Australian Grand Prix had been officially confirmed in December 2019 as the first of twenty-two planned races in the 2020 championship calendar. The sixteen-turn, 5.303 km Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne would have hosted the eighty-fifth running of the Australian Grand Prix in its combined history, the twenty-fifth at Albert Park, and the thirty-sixth as a Formula One World Championship round. Lewis Hamilton arrived as the defending World Drivers' Champion, with his Mercedes team the defending constructors' champions. Valtteri Bottas was the defending race winner.
Several significant grid changes applied for 2020. Scuderia AlphaTauri competed for the first time under that name following the rebranding of Scuderia Toro Rosso. Esteban Ocon returned to the championship at Renault, replacing Nico Hülkenberg. Nicholas Latifi was scheduled to make his race debut with Williams, taking over from Robert Kubica. Ferrari's Mission Winnow title sponsorship was banned from the race for failing to comply with local laws governing tobacco advertising.
In the weeks preceding the race, major sporting events globally began cancelling or postponing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization on 12 March 2020. The Chinese Grand Prix had already been postponed. Italian-based teams Ferrari and AlphaTauri expressed concern about their staff's ability to travel from northern Italy, where strict quarantine zones had been established.
Five team crew members — four from Haas and one from McLaren — were placed into quarantine on arrival in Melbourne after displaying flu-like symptoms. The Haas members tested negative for COVID-19, but the McLaren member tested positive. McLaren announced its withdrawal from the race on Thursday evening. It subsequently emerged that only three teams — Red Bull Racing, Scuderia AlphaTauri, and Racing Point — had indicated willingness to compete if the event proceeded. Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews initially resisted cancellation, stating it would be a disproportionate response to available health advice, but announced that spectators would be excluded if the race went ahead. Formula One drivers including Hamilton and Kimi Räikkönen were among those critical of the decision to proceed.
The event was cancelled on the Friday morning, a few hours before the first Formula One practice session was due to begin. After the cancellation, a further fourteen McLaren team members were placed into quarantine. All supporting series events were also cancelled, though practice and qualifying sessions for support categories had already been completed on the Thursday, along with one race for the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia. A two-seater Minardi performed demonstration runs on the Friday morning before the cancellation was confirmed.
Organisers announced plans to reschedule the race for later in 2020. The 2020 season eventually began with the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring in July. A revised calendar was published, but the Australian Grand Prix was not included. In June 2020, Australian federal tourism minister Simon Birmingham indicated the country expected to keep its borders closed to international travel until 2021. The race was not rescheduled for the 2020 season. The 2021 Australian Grand Prix was moved from its traditional March slot to November, before ultimately being cancelled for a second consecutive year. The event returned in April 2022 on a revised circuit layout.
Following the cancellation, entertainment promoter World Touring Melbourne (WTM) sued the Australian Grand Prix Corporation (AGPC) for $8 million, claiming the promoter's breach of obligation had caused loss and damages amounting to $7.594 million in costs incurred plus $1.128 million in lost profits. The dispute centred on whether the cancellation had been directed or merely advised by Victoria's Chief Health Officer, Dr Sutton. The Supreme Court of Victoria found that AGPC had made representations likely to mislead or deceive WTM regarding the basis for the cancellation and had breached several contractual terms. A settlement of $2.84 million after costs was reached.