If Formula 1 has proven anything over the years, it is that it can be incredibly resilient when the biggest of challenges are thrown at it.

Think of the Covid-era races, the Icelandic volcano disruption of 2010, cyclones, hurricanes, or the fallout from major international news events.

When the 'controllables' are in F1's own hands, more often than not its course remains steadfast.

That is why, amid the travel chaos triggered in recent days by the military conflict that has escalated in the Middle East, the Australian Grand Prix was never properly at risk of major disruption.

Hundreds of F1 personnel have faced challenges in making their way around the globe to Australia with key travel hubs such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha out of action. Not everyone originally planning to be in Melbourne will make it.

But such challenging scenarios have become familiar to F1's travelling circus. Those on the road have always operated on the basis that delivering is the only option.

If staff in place X need to get to place Y before a certain day, F1's best travel-savvy brains will ensure it happens. No ifs and no buts.

Many in the F1 paddock are well-versed in getting themselves across the globe when major travel difficulties hit, and it becomes almost a badge of honour in overcoming the kind of dramas that most people would struggle to come through.

We've certainly been here plenty of times before.

The F1 circus successfully got itself back from Melbourne in 2020 as the world slowly shut down during the initial Covid outbreak.

Many will still recall the weird routes that some had to take back from China in 2010 when the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland triggered the kind of international travel disruption that has been repeated this week.

With central European airspace shut down for days back then, I recall at one point my best route back from Shanghai being a flight to Athens, a ferry to Italy and then a train home.

Difficult? Yes. Impossible? No.

But while F1's 'just get it done' spirit works when it comes to dealing with challenging circumstances, there is an important caveat to where we are at right now.

It is that the world can often be an unpredictable place, and events happen that are totally outside the remit of what F1 can control.

The flooding that struck the Emilia-Romagna area in 2023 meant that year's Imola race had to be cancelled at the last-minute; the Covid pandemic did force F1's hand for a while in 2020 before it managed to pull a schedule together later on; and the unrest in Bahrain 2011, amid the Arab Spring protests, meant that year's planned season opener could not go ahead.

Right now, F1 has to face up to another scenario where what is taking place in the Middle East is well beyond its influence.

And, with more than one month to go before the Bahrain GP (April 12) and Saudi Arabian GP (April 19) are due to take place, it is impossible to predict how things are going to play out.

This is why FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem's remarks that "safety and wellbeing" will be the defining factors in deciding if F1 goes ahead with its forthcoming events in the Middle East are so true.

Can F1 put on races even when circumstances are incredibly difficult? Absolutely.

But should it push on with races if there are unnecessary risks for those involved? Certainly not.

So while F1 may have done its thing in making sure the show goes on for now, it will not be blind to knowing that part of this year's schedule is not really in its hands.