Race Facts – Australian Grand Prix

Be taught in regards to the historical past of the Australian Components 1 Grand Prix, which has been held in Melbourne since 1996, most of the time as the primary race of the brand new F1 season.

Melbourne started internet hosting the Australian Grand Prix on the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit (Albert Park) in 1996, taking on from Adelaide, which hosted the race from 1985-1995. Albert Park is a historic venue which held two non-championship Australian Grand Prix races in 1953 and 1956 on a shorter, anti-clockwise monitor.

For almost all of the yr, Albert Park is a well-liked native leisure house with strolling trails, picnic areas and sports activities amenities. The momentary circuit is assembled round six weeks earlier than race weekend after which disassembled once more 4 weeks after the race.

Lately, typical attendance over the weekend in Australia has been round 400,000 spectators, with a crowd in extra of 100,000 on race day, making it the most effective attended races on the present F1 calendar.

In 2022, on F1’s return to Albert Park after an enforced two-year absence because of the coronavirus pandemic, the attendance determine exceeded 400,000. It was the best-attended Australian Grand Prix because the occasion moved to Melbourne in 1996 – however that determine has since been damaged twice. In 2023, the Australian Grand Prix ended the yr because the second-best attended race of the season, with a 4-day attendance determine of 444,631. Attendance grew by one other 8,000 in 2024 to over 450,000, making it one of many best-attended F1 race weekends in historical past.

There’s a pleasant ambiance and the multicultural inhabitants of Melbourne gives a fantastic welcome for touring followers. The Australians do such a very good job of organizing the race weekend that representatives from Australia have helped organizers from newer races on the calendar to plan their very own Grands Prix.

The race prices taxpayers in Victoria roughly $50m AUD every year, which has been a supply of some controversy for a while, regardless of the tourism income and international promotion the town enjoys from the race.

After signing a two-year contract extension in 2019 to maintain Albert Park on the F1 calendar till 2025, Australian Grand Prix organisers signed a longer-term deal in June 2022. The brand new deal secured the way forward for the occasion in Melbourne till a minimum of 2035. The settlement was prolonged by an additional two years, to 2037, simply six months later.

The Australian Grand Prix is predicted to return to the season-opening slot on the calendar for a minimum of 4 seasons earlier than its newest contract expires in 2037. It has been confirmed by the native authorities that the race won’t open the season in 2024.

In 2023, Components 2 and Components 3 joined Albert Park’s assist race schedule for the primary time, giving trackside spectators much more on-track motion to look at.

Australian Grand Prix Residence Race Heroes

Australian drivers have had loads of success in Components 1. Their drivers have amassed 43 wins, 35 pole positions and 130 podium finishes, together with 4 world titles (three for Jack Brabham and one for Alan Jones). Learn Extra: The High 10 Australian Components 1 Drivers

An Australian driver has by no means completed on the rostrum at their house race because the Australian Grand Prix turned a spherical of the World Championship in 1985. One of the best outcome from an Australian at Albert Park is 4th place. Mark Webber was the primary driver to do that, in 2012. Daniel Ricciardo completed second in 2014, however was later disqualified. He went on to complete fourth within the Australian Grand Prix in 2016 and 2018. Oscar Piastri joined the membership of Australian drivers ending fourth of their house race on the 2024 Australian Grand Prix.

In 2023, McLaren rookie Piastri adopted within the footsteps of his supervisor Mark Webber by scoring his maiden Components 1 factors on house soil. He did so with an eighth place end. Learn extra about Australia’s Residence Race Heroes.

Australian Grand Prix: Do you know?

Michael Schumacher is probably the most profitable driver at Albert Park, scoring 4 wins (2000, 2001, 2002, 2004).
The bottom grid slot a Grand Prix at Albert Park has been gained from is eleventh. David Coulthard achieved this in 2003, with what can be his last victory in F1.
Danish driver Kevin Magnussen completed second in Australia in 2014 on his debut. It stays his greatest outcome, and his solely podium end, up to now. The race additionally marked McLaren’s final podium outcome for over 5 years.
Magnussen isn’t the one driver to have taken a podium end on debut at Albert Park. Jacques Villeneuve and Lewis Hamilton did the identical in 1996 and 2007 respectively. Villeneuve additionally took pole place on the inaugural occasion.
The 2007 Australian Grand Prix is the one time, aside from the primary F1 race, the place each driver on the rostrum was making their maiden look for the group with whom they have been competing. Kimi Raikkonen gained on his Ferrari debut, whereas Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton each made their first podium appearances for McLaren.
It takes an estimated 290,000 man hours to assemble the circuit yearly.
Lewis Hamilton took pole on the Australian Grand Prix in each season between 2014 and 2019, however transformed solely a type of pole positions (2015) into race victory.
Eddie Irvine is the one driver to have celebrated his maiden F1 victory at this monitor. He gained his first Grand Prix with Ferrari right here in 1999.
The 2012 Australian Grand Prix was the primary F1 race to function six energetic World Champions competing in it.

Memorable Moments on the Australian Grand Prix

1996: Brundle Flies at Flip 3

The primary race of the fashionable period at Albert Park obtained off to a chaotic begin. Martin Brundle launched his Jordan automobile by the air after hitting the again of David Coulthard’s McLaren at Flip 3 in a spectacular accident. Extremely, Brundle escaped unharmed and was even in a position to take the restart of the Grand Prix within the group’s spare automobile. The nook has grow to be famend for giant accidents, with Fernando Alonso additionally infamously colliding there with Esteban Gutierrez’s Haas in 2016. Alonso was pressured to overlook the next race because of his accidents within the dramatic crash.

2002:Webber’s Minardi Debut

When Mark Webber made his F1 debut with Minardi in 2002, it’s truthful to say that expectations weren’t significantly excessive for the Australian’s efficiency in his first race. Webber turned the primary Australian to begin his house race since 1994, qualifying in eighteenth. By the closing levels of the Grand Prix, Webber had made his approach as much as fifth. The Minardi was struggling, having misplaced high gear and with Mika Salo closing in. Webber held on to take a powerful fifth place end in his maiden Grand Prix, scoring Minardi’s first factors since 1999. He and group boss Paul Stoddart even had their very own podium celebrations in entrance of the enthusiastic partisan crowd!

2008: An Afternoon of Mayhem

The 2008 Australian Grand Prix was a chaotic one, with simply seven drivers reaching the top of the race. A mess of incidents noticed 5 drivers finish their races on the primary lap, whereas Felipe Massa and David Coulthard had a sizeable coming collectively at Flip 1 earlier than the race had reached half-distance. The biggest crash of the afternoon was for Timo Glock as he ran broad and broke his suspension, sending his Toyota automobile airborne. Rubens Barrichello was disqualified from the race having left the pit-lane when the pink mild was exhibiting. The incident occurred after the Brazilian had a foul pit-stop, by which he left his pit-box with the fuel-hose nonetheless connected. Regardless of the entire incidents round him, Lewis Hamilton stayed calm to take victory, whereas Nico Rosberg secured his first podium end.

2009: Brawn GP’s Rise from the Ashes

As Honda introduced their withdrawal from Components 1 on the finish of 2008, Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello have been left with out a drive. Fortunately for them, and the workforce on the Brackley manufacturing facility, Ross Brawn stepped in to avoid wasting the group. Brawn GP turned as much as the Australian Grand Prix having set spectacular lap occasions in Winter Testing. Their tempo was confirmed as Button took pole and went on to win the race, together with his team-mate ending as runner-up. It was the primary win for a group making their debut since Mercedes in 1954.