TheAustralian Grand Prix is an annualFormula One motor racing event, taking place inMelbourne, Victoria. The event is contracted to be held at least until 2035.[1] One of the oldest surviving motorsport competitions held in Australia, the Grand Prix has moved frequently with 23 different venues having been used since it was first run atPhillip Island in1928. The race became part of the Formula One World Championship in1985. Since1996, it has been held at theAlbert Park Circuit in Melbourne, with the exceptions of2020 and 2021, when the races were cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[2] Before that, it was held inAdelaide.[3]
Historically, the Australian Grand Prix was held as either the last race of the season, when held at Adelaide, or as the opening round or early on at Melbourne. In2022, it returned to the calendar as the third race of the season, following theBahrain andSaudi Arabian Grands Prix. In2025, the Grand Prix was moved back to the opening race slot of the season.
While an event called the Australian Grand Prix was staged in 1927 at the grass surfaceGoulburn Racecourse held as a series of sprints,[4] it is generally accepted that the Australian Grand Prix began as the100 Miles Road Race held at thePhillip Island road circuit in 1928.[5] The inaugural race was won byArthur Waite in what was effectively an entry supported by theAustin Motor Company, a modifiedAustin 7. For eight years, races, first called the Australian Grand Prix in1929, continued on the rectangular dirt road circuit.Bugattis dominated the results, taking four consecutive wins from 1929 to 1932. The last Phillip Island race was in 1935 and the title lapsed for three years. An AGP style event was held onBoxing Day, 1936 at the South Australian town ofVictor Harbor for a centennial South Australian Grand Prix[6] before the Australian Grand Prix title was revived in1938 for the grand opening of what would become one of the world's most famous race tracks,Mount Panorama just outside the semi-rural town ofBathurst. Only just completed, with a tar seal for the circuit still a year away, the race was won by EnglishmanPeter Whitehead racing a newvoituretteERA B-Type that was just too fast for the locally developed machinery.[7] One more race was held, at theLobethal Circuit near the South Australian town ofLobethal in1939, before the country was plunged intoWorld War II.
In the immediate post-war era, racing was sparse with competitors using pre-war cars with supplies cobbled together around the rationing of fuel and tyres.[8]Mount Panorama held the first post-war Grand Prix in1947, beginning a rotational system between the Australian States,[9] as fostered by theAustralian Automobile Association.[10] A mixture of stripped-down production sports cars and Australian "specials" were to take victories as the race travelled amongst temporary converted airfield circuits and street circuits likePoint Cook,Leyburn,Nuriootpa andNarrogin before, on the race's return to Mount Panorama in1952, the way to the future was pointed byDoug Whiteford racing a newly importedTalbot-LagoFormula One car to victory. Grand Prix machinery had already been filtering through in the shape of olderMaserati andOSCAs and smallerCoopers but had yet to prove to be superior to the locally developed cars. The end of the Australian "specials" was coming, but the magnificentMaybach-based series of specials driven exuberantly byStan Jones would give many hope for the next few years.
Lex Davison, who for several years would experiment with sports car engines in smallerFormula 2 chassis, took his first of four victories in aJaguar engined Formula 2HWM in1954, while theprevious year Whiteford won his third and final Grand Prix as for the first time racing cars thundered around the streets surrounding theAlbert Park Lake in innerMelbourne. That circuit, which for four brief years gave Australia the strongest taste of the grandeur surrounding European Grand Prix racing, was 40 years later very much modified, used to host the1996 Australian Grand Prix as the modern Formula One world championship venue.Jack Brabham took his first of three AGP wins in1955 at the shortPort Wakefield Circuit inSouth Australia. The race is significant in that Brabham was driving aBristol poweredCooper T40, the first ever rear-engine car to win the Grand Prix.
The Grand Prix returned to Albert Park in1956, the year when Melbourne hosted theSummer Olympics, to play host to a group of visiting European teams, led byStirling Moss and the factoryMaserati racing team who brought a fleet of250F Grand Prix cars and300S sports racing cars. Moss won the Grand Prix from Maserati teammateJean Behra. That 1956 race would inspire the next great era of the Grand Prix.[11]
The growing influence of engineer-driversJack Brabham and a couple of years behind him New ZealanderBruce McLaren would transform the race. Brabham, who first won the Grand Prix in1955 in a Cooper T40 Bristol he had brought home from his first foray into English racing,[12] would test new developments for Cooper during the European winter, beginning a flood of Cooper-Climax Grand Prix machinery into Australia and New Zealand before Brabham started building hisown cars, as well as the appearance of Lotus chassis as well, finally killing off the Australian "specials". With European Formula One restricted by the 1.5-litre regulations and big powerful 2.5-litre Australian cars were tremendously attractive to the European teams and whenBRM Grand Prix team toured Australia during the summer of 1962, the seed grew that became theTasman Series.
The top European Formula One teams and drivers raced the European winters in Australia and New Zealand from1963 to1969 playing host to a golden age for racing in the region for which the Australian Grand Prix (and theNew Zealand Grand Prix) became jewels of the summer. The popularity of the Tasman formulae was directly responsible for 1966's "return to power" in Formula One, and having spent years developing withRepco the Brabham cars and eventually the Oldsmobile-basedRepco-Brabham V8s in the Tasman series gave Jack Brabham the opportunity to unexpectedly dominate Formula One in his Brabhams with a ready-proven lightweight car that left Ferrari and the British "garagistes" struggling with their heavy, technically fragile or underpowered cars until the appearance of theFord Cosworth DFV in 1967.
By the end of the decade, European teams were increasingly reluctant to commit to the Tasman Series in the face of longer home seasons, but also having to develop 2.5-litre versions of their 3.0 litre F1 engines. Local Tasman cars were declining as well and after originally opting a 2.0 litre version of Tasman to be the future of the Australian Grand Prix, the overwhelming support for the already well establishedFormula 5000 saw natural selection forceConfederation of Australian Motorsport (CAMS)' hand.[13]
For the first half of the 1970s, the Tasman Series continued as a local series primarily for Formula 5000 racers, but by 1976, the Australian and New Zealand legs fractured apart and the Australian Grand Prix separated from the remnants and became a stand-alone race once more. During this era, the former Tasman stars, Matich, Geoghegan and Bartlett would continue on as a new generation of drivers emerged, some likeGarrie Cooper (Elfin) andGraham McRae developing their own cars while others likeMax Stewart,John McCormack andAlfredo Costanzo using European-built cars, mostlyLolas. Matich won two Grands Prix is his own cars before Stewart and McRae each took a pair of wins. Towards the end of the 1970s, the race again became a home to returning European-based antipodeans likeAlan Jones andLarry Perkins withWarwick Brown winning the 1977 race, while in1976, touring car racerJohn Goss completed a remarkable double becoming the only driver to win the Grand Prix and theBathurst 1000touring car race.
Declining economy and the dominance of the local scene byGroup C touring cars towards the latter part of the 1970s saw Formula 5000 gradually fall out of favour. By 1980, the decision to replace was once again imminent; however, the form ofAlan Jones in Formula One saw entrepreneurBob Jane seize an opportunity to bring Formula One back as the Grand Prix Formula. The1980 event held at Jane'sCalder Park Raceway saw a combined field of Formula One and Formula 5000 padded out with the Australised version ofFormula Atlantic cars, Formula Pacific.[14] The newly crowned world champion, Jones swept the field aside in hisWilliams-Ford, but with only two F1 cars entering (the other being theAlfa Romeo 179 driven byBruno Giacomelli).
The continuing disintegration of F5000 saw Jane concentrate the next four Grands Prix on theFormula Pacific (later rebadged asFormula Mondial[15]) category and importing Formula One drivers to race the locals in fields almost entirely made up ofRalt RT4s. BrazilianRoberto Moreno dominated this era, winning three of the four races, ceding only the1982 race to future four-time World ChampionAlain Prost.
Jane's attempt to bring the World Championship to Calder Park ultimately failed, as did a bid by Melbourne's other circuit Sandown (though Sandown was able to attract a round of theWorld Sportscar Championship to its upgraded track in1984). As it turned out, F1 would be tempted away from Melbourne by a far more attractive option[16] but it was listed as a reserve race in the 1982 F1 calendar.[17]
Promotional poster for the first Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide in 1985.
The Australian Grand Prix became a round of the FIA Formula One World Championship in 1985 with the last race of the season held on thestreet circuit inAdelaide. TheAdelaide Street Circuit, which held its last Formula One race in1995, was known as a challenging, demanding and tricky circuit that often produced races of attrition, and the whole event was very popular with drivers, teams and fans. Whenever the teams came to Adelaide they enjoyed the party atmosphere.[18]
The first ever Australian Grand Prix to be included as part of the Formula One World Championship was also the 50th AGP. The new 3.78 kmAdelaide Street Circuit saw BrazilianAyrton Senna on pole with a time of 1:19.843 in hisLotus–Renault. The race itself was a battle between Senna and Finland'sKeke Rosberg driving aWilliams–Honda for the last time. Run in oppressively hot conditions, the last race of the1985 season ran to its 2-hour time limit, though all scheduled 82 laps were run. Rosberg ultimately prevailed finishing 43 seconds in front of theLigier–Renaults of FrenchmenJacques Laffite andPhilippe Streiff who actually collided at the hairpin at the end of Brabham Straight with only one lap to go when Streiff tried a passing move that resulted in his car suffering broken suspension, though not bad enough to cause retirement. Three time World Champion AustrianNiki Lauda drove his last Formula One race at this event. After starting 16th in hisMcLaren, he made his way to the lead by lap 57, but a lack of brakes cause him to crash into a wall in a sad end to his Formula One career. Australia had its own driver in the race with1980 World ChampionAlan Jones driving aLola–Hart. Jones, who started 19th, stalled at the start but fought his way to sixth by lap 20 before retiring later in the lap with electrical failure. The 1986 event was a three-way race for the Drivers' Championship. BritonNigel Mansell and BrazilianNelson Piquet inWilliams–Hondas and FrenchmanAlain Prost, in a comparatively underpoweredMcLaren–TAG/Porsche, were competing for the drivers' title. Mansell needed only third to guarantee the title, whilst Prost and Piquet needed to win and for Mansell to finish fourth or lower to take the title. Finn Keke Rosberg led for 62 laps before a puncture that caused damage to his McLaren; this was the 1982 champion's last Formula One race. Whilst comfortably in the top three with 20 laps to go, Mansell's Williams suffered a spectacular mechanical failure, with a rear tyre puncture at 180 mph (290 km/h) on the Brabham Straight, creating a huge shower of sparks as the floor of the vehicle dragged along the bitumen surface. Mansell fought to control the violently veering car and steered it to a safe stop. Prost took the lead, as Mansell's teammate Piquet had pitted as a pre-cautionary measure, and the Frenchman won the race and the championship. Prost had to fight back after a mid-race puncture, and stopped soon after the finish so as not to waste fuel, something he had done at every race he finished since his disqualification from the1985 San Marino Grand Prix for being underweight after his McLaren ran out of fuel on his slow down lap after crossing the line first. 1987 saw Gerhard Berger win in his Ferrari while Ayrton Senna finished second but was then disqualified for technical irregularities in his last race for Lotus; Berger's teammate Michele Alboreto was then moved up to second place to make the final result a Ferrari 1–2.
1988, the last Grand Prix of the turbo era, saw Alain Prost win his seventh race of the season from McLaren teammate and newly crowned World Champion Ayrton Senna with outgoing champion Nelson Piquet third for Lotus, giving Honda turbo's all three podium positions. The race was also the 15th win and 15th pole in 16 races in a season of total dominance for McLaren-Honda, a domination not seen before or since in Formula One. 1989 was hit by a deluge of rain and the drivers, notably Prost, did not want to start the race because of the very wet conditions, particularly on the Brabham straight. This event came after controversial events 2 weeks before at the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, where Prost had crashed into his hated teammate Senna, and Senna got going again and finished 1st on the road but after political discussions was disqualified for cutting the chicane before the pit straight at Suzuka; the repercussions of which dawned on the race. McLaren had decided to appeal Senna's disqualification; so Senna still had a chance of winning the championship. The race was delayed for sometime and there were discussions about whether the race should be started. Senna qualified on pole position, and had every intention of starting the race. The circuit was still being hammered by rain and was covered by water, but the drivers, including Prost relented and eventually they started. But an unconvinced Prost came in after one lap and withdrew; and Senna- who was still in an awful mental state from the previous race, immediately began driving as fast as he could. By the end of the first lap, due to Pierluigi Martini's slow Minardi holding up the two faster Williams cars of BelgianThierry Boutsen and ItalianRiccardo Patrese, Senna was an astonishing nine seconds ahead of Martini; the Williams cars soon passed Martini but by the end of the third lap, Senna was 23 seconds ahead of second-placed Boutsen. Yet even with such a huge lead which he extended even further, Senna continued to push very hard- taking very daring chances even for himself; the psychological dominance F1 had exuded over the Brazilian meant that he was known to take chances that most other drivers would not. Going down the Brabham straight on lap 13, Senna came up behind Briton Martin Brundle's Brabham-Judd, and Brundle decided to move over to let Senna pass. But Senna was blinded by thick spray; and the Brazilian did not lift off, causing him to hit the back of Brundle's car, tearing off his front left wheel and suspension and resulting in the Brazilian's retirement. This effectively handing Prost his third Drivers' Championship; McLaren's appeal had not been decided yet, but with Senna failing to score, he was mathematically unable to catch Prost even if his Japanese Grand Prix victory stood, and it was not only overturned but Senna received a $100,000 fine and a six-month ban, both of which were rescinded. Boutsen won the race in the unimproved conditions, with the race called after it reached the two-hour time limit.
1990 was the 500th World Championship Grand Prix ever held; and it came after yet more controversial events at Suzuka. Senna had crashed into Prost at the very first corner on the first lap of the race; and he won the Drivers' Championship for the second time. The Australian Grand Prix that year was an incredibly exciting race: Senna led for 61 laps, but crashed near the entrance to the permanent race course because of gearbox problems. The race then turned into a dead-heat sprint between Nelson Piquet in hisBenetton-Ford and Nigel Mansell in his Ferrari. Mansell charged through the field and repeatedly broke the lap record in pursuit of his former Williams teammate. This almost ended in disaster when the Ferrari almost hit the Benetton at the end of the Brabham Straight in a last-ditch overtaking move on the last lap. Piquet won from the Ferraris of Mansell and Prost. There was pre-race controversy when Prost refused to take part in both the annual end of season drivers' photo and the special photo shoot with the World Champions in attendance (including legendary five-time championJuan Manuel Fangio, three-time championsSir Jack Brabham,Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, and Nelson Piquet; and other world championsJames Hunt, Alan Jones,Denny Hulme and Senna), as Prost was still disgusted and angry did not wish to appear in the photos with Senna following their controversial first corner crash in the previous race inJapan which gave the1990 World Championship to Senna.
The 1991 race was notable for being held in extremely wet and tricky conditions and the race was eventually stopped after 14 of the scheduled 82 laps andAyrton Senna was declared the winner. Prost had been fired from Ferrari for making unsavory comments about the car after Suzuka; he did not compete in this race. The Drivers' Championship had already been decided in Senna's favour; but the Constructors' Championship was still yet to be decided between McLaren and Williams. Senna's victory plus his teammate Gerhard Berger's third gave McLaren its fourth consecutive Constructors' Championship; Williams (which was behind McLaren in points) drivers Mansell finished second (but crashed near the race's end at the chicane after the pits) and Riccardo Patrese finished fifth. This race held the record of being the shortest ever Formula One race as it only lasted 52 kilometres (33 miles)/24 minutes. It would eventually be surpassed by the2021 Belgian Grand Prix, which lasted three laps, but was classified after only one official lap. Triple World Champion Nelson Piquet, who finished fifth, retired from Grand Prix racing following the race.
1992 saw Senna drive very hard to try to stay with new world champion Mansell's dominant Williams; this ended in Senna running into the back of Mansell at the last corner. Mansell retired from Formula One and went to compete in CART in the United States; Senna's teammate Gerhard Berger won the race. 1993 saw Senna win what was to be his 41st and final victory and final race for McLaren ahead of Alain Prost, who was competing in his final Formula One race in a Williams before he too retired. Senna embraced his once extremely bitter rival Prost on the podium. It was announced around this time that the Australian Grand Prix would be moving to Melbourne for 1996.
The1994 was to see yet another memorable weekend. Following his win at theJapanese Grand Prix,Damon Hill was now one point behind championship leaderMichael Schumacher.Nigel Mansell, returning to Formula One in place of the late Senna, was onpole but a poor start resulted in the two championship rivals Hill and Schumacher battling for the lead. But on lap 36, Schumacher went off the track, a result of oversteer, and this allowed Hill to catch up with Schumacher and take the inside line for the next corner. Schumacher turned in on Hill'sWilliams (whether on purpose or accidentally remains unknown) which sent theBenetton up on two wheels and into the tyre barrier, Schumacher retiring on the spot. Hill came out of the incident with a broken wishbone on his front-left suspension, he pitted and retired from the race, handing the title to Schumacher. The sister Williams of the 41-year-old Nigel Mansell went on to win the race, becoming the oldest Grand Prix winner since Jack Brabham in 1970.
In1995,Mika Häkkinen suffered a tyre failure at the early part of the first qualifying session at the high speed Brewery Bend between Jones and Brabham Straights, which resulted in him crashing heavily into the outside wall. He was critically injured in the crash and was saved only due to an emergencycricothyroidotomy that was performed by the side of the track bySid Watkins.[19] This incident forged a strong bond between Häkkinen and team principalRon Dennis, and also sent forth a new movement for extra safety in the sport. Luckily, Häkkinen recovered fully and was fit to race again in 1996, thus missing only one race. Häkkinen climbed back into a Formula One car at Paul Ricard three months after the accident.[20] The final F1 race at Adelaide was won by Damon Hill in a Williams, with almost all of his main rivals including Schumacher retiring, and Hill finished two laps ahead of second-placed Olivier Panis.
In 1993 prominent Melbourne businessmanRon Walker began working with the Kennett government to make Melbourne the host of the event. After the government ofJeff Kennett spent an undisclosed amount,[21] it was announced on 17 December 1993 (less than a week after theSouth Australian election) that the race would be shifted to a rebuiltAlbert Park Circuit inMelbourne.[22] The race would move to Melbourne from 1996. The decision was made without parliamentary debate, Cabinet discussion or public consultation. TheAustralian Grands Prix Act 1994 was subsequently passed by the Victorian Parliament, that exempted the event from existing freedom of information, planning, environmental laws and judicial review by the Supreme Court.[23]
Bernie Ecclestone, the then-president ofFormula One Management, the group that runs modern-day Formula One in conjunction with the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), once said that it took 10 minutes to do the deal with Melbourne that would see the Victorian capital host the Australian Grand Prix from 1996. It was thought that Melbourne's unsuccessfulbid for the 1996 Summer Olympics, and the subsequently successful bid by northern rival city Sydney to host the2000 Summer Olympics, was a driving force behind Melbourne's motivation to wrest the Australian Grand Prix away from Adelaide. The Australian Grand Prix at Adelaide in 1985–1995 was always the last event in the Formula One calendar – but from 1996 onwards, it has usually been the first event or was held early in the season.
The decision to hold the race there was controversial. A series of protests were organised by the "Save Albert Park" group, which claimed that the race turned a public park into a private playground for one week per year. Additionally, they claimed that the race cost a great deal of money that would be better spent, if it were to be spent on motor racing, on a permanent circuit elsewhere. Finally, they said that the claimed economic benefits of the race were false or exaggerated. The race organisers and the government claimed that the economic benefits to the state, although unquantifiable, outweighed the costs, and highlighted that the park's public amenities have been greatly improved from the World War II vintage facilities previously located at Albert Park; the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre (scene of many Melbourne2006 Commonwealth Games events) being the centre piece and best known of the revitalised facilities. Opponents of holding the race in the park point out that the Aquatic Centre adds nothing to the Grand Prix, is effectively closed for weeks surrounding the event and could have been built independent of the car race.
Demonstration event held in Melbourne just before the start of the 2005 Grand PrixNick Heidfeld andNico Rosberg at Corner 6 in 2008
Albert Park, within easy reach of the Melbourne central business district, became home to the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. A 16-turn circuit, which measures 5.3 km (3.3 mi) in its current guise, it was built utilising a combination of public roads and a car park within the park. The circuit is renowned as being a smooth and high-speed test for Formula One teams and drivers. Its characteristics are similar to the only other street circuit set in a public park used in the Formula One World Championship, theCircuit Gilles Villeneuve inMontreal which hosts theCanadian Grand Prix.The promotional theme for the first race in Melbourne was "Melbourne – What a Great Place for the Race". Some 401,000 people turned out for the four days leading up to and including the first race in 1996, which remains a record for the event. The logistics of creating a temporary circuit and hosting an event of the magnitude of a Formula One Grand Prix from scratch were not lost on the international visitors, with Melbourne winning the F1 Constructors' Association Award for the best organised Grand Prix of the year in its first two years (1996 and 1997).
It took just three corners for the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park to gain worldwide attention. On the first lap of the first race in 1996, Jordan'sMartin Brundle was launched into the air in an enormous accident. Footage of the crash, and Brundle's subsequent rush back to the pits to take the spare car for the restart, ensured the first race in Melbourne gained widespread coverage. The race was won by Williams'sDamon Hill.
The 1997 race sawMcLaren, throughDavid Coulthard, break a drought of 50 races without a victory. The next year was a McLaren benefit, withMika Häkkinen and Coulthard lapping the entire field en route to a dominant 1–2 finish. The result was clouded by controversy when Coulthard pulled over with two laps remaining to allow Häkkinen to win, honouring a pre-race agreement between the pair that whoever made it to the first corner in the lead on lap one would be allowed to win. Ferrari won its first Grand Prix in Melbourne in 1999, but it was not with team number oneMichael Schumacher. Northern IrishmanEddie Irvine took his maiden victory after the all-conquering McLarens of Häkkinen and Coulthard retired before half-distance. Schumacher broke his Melbourne drought the following year when he headed a dominant Ferrari 1–2 with new teammateRubens Barrichello. The 2001 event, also won by Michael Schumacher, was marked by tragedy when 52-year-old volunteer marshal Graham Beveridge was killed after a high-speed accident involving Ralf Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve on lap five. Villeneuve's B.A.R. rode up across the back of Schumacher's Williams and crashed into the fence, behind which Beveridge was standing; Beveridge was hit by a tyre that flew off of Villeneuve's car.
The start of the 2002 race saw pole-sitter Barrichello and Williams'sRalf Schumacher come together at Turn One in a spectacular accident that saw 11 of the 22 cars eliminated before the end of the opening lap. Michael Schumacher dominated thereafter to post a third straight Melbourne win, but his achievements were overshadowed by the fifth place of Australian Mark Webber on his Formula One debut. Webber, in an underpowered and underfundedMinardi, had to recover from a botched late pit stop and resist the challenges of Toyota'sMika Salo in the closing stages, and took to the podium after the race with Australian team owner Paul Stoddart in one of Melbourne's more memorable Grand Prix moments. The next year, 2003, saw Coulthard again win for McLaren in a race held in variable conditions. Normal service was resumed in 2004 with the Ferraris of Schumacher and Barrichello running rampant – within two laps of Friday practice, Schumacher had obliterated the Albert Park lap record, and sailed to a crushing win. In 2005, the race was won byRenault'sGiancarlo Fisichella after a storm during Saturday qualifying produced a topsy-turvy grid. Barrichello and Fisichella's teammateFernando Alonso came through the field from 11th and 13th on the grid respectively to join pole sitter Fisichella on the podium.
In 2006, Alonso took his first Australian win in an accident-marred race that featured four safety car periods. In 2007Kimi Räikkönen won in his first race for Ferrari, while rookieLewis Hamilton became the first driver in 11 years to finish on the podium in his F1 debut, finishing third behind his McLaren teammate Alonso. Hamilton won the 2008 race which had three safety car periods and only six finishers. In 2009Jenson Button took the victory, driving for debutant teamBrawn GP, which was having its first race after Ross Brawn had bought the team followingHonda's withdrawal from Formula One. The team was formed from the remnants ofHonda Racing F1 who had withdrawn from the sport following the 2008 season. The race ended with Button, who had led from the start, leading the field over the line after the safety car had been deployed with three laps remaining following a crash betweenSebastian Vettel andRobert Kubica, who had been fighting for second place. This promoted Button's teammate, fellow Brawn GP driver Rubens Barrichello, to second, marking a historic 1-2 for the team.Toyota'sJarno Trulli was given a 25-second penalty for passing Lewis Hamilton for third place under yellow flags during that safety car period, which promoted Hamilton into that position. However, Hamilton was later disqualified and docked his points for "deliberately misleading stewards",[24] with Trulli reinstated in third. The results earned byBrawn,Williams, andToyota were awarded, despite an appeal being held two weeks later against a ruling on the legality of the teams' diffuser design.[25] The outcome of the appeal was in favour of the teams, their diffusers were declared legal under the new rules and there were no changes to the results of the race.
2010 again saw Button win at Melbourne. Starting from fourth, he gambled on an early change to slick tires under drying conditions that let him move up to second place after losing several positions at the start.Sebastian Vettel retired with mechanical issues after qualifying on pole and leading until his retirement, handing Button the victory. The2011 race saw Vettel take victory in the Red Bull, with Hamilton second andVitaly Petrov third forLotus. This was the first ever podium for aRussian Formula One driver.2012 saw Button win for the third time in four years at the circuit.2013 saw a surprise victory with Raikkonen in the Lotus winning from Alonso and Vettel. The reintroduction of V6 turbo hybrid engines for2014 saw a dominant performance fromMercedes'sNico Rosberg at theGrand Prix, who took the victory from the McLarens ofKevin Magnussen and Button, both of whom were promoted due to the disqualification ofDaniel Ricciardo in the Red Bull post race for illegal fuel flow.2015 saw Hamilton take the victory from teammate Rosberg, with Vettel completing the top three.
In2020, it was planned to hold the Grand Prix despite thecoronavirus epidemic in the country.Ferrari andAlphaTauri as teams based inItaly, the most coronavirus-infected country in Europe at the time, expressed concern about the possibility of leaving the quarantine zone. One ofMcLaren's mechanics got flu-like symptoms when he arrived in Australia, his coronavirus test returned positive and the British team withdrew from the race. Later, a photographer was also confirmed to have coronavirus. It was announced that the Grand Prix would still take place, but without spectators, however two hours before the first practice started the event was cancelled.[26][27]
In June 2022, Melbourne's contract to host the Australian Grand Prix, which was due to expire in 2025, was extended to 2035.[28] The new contract stipulates that the Australian Grand Prix will be one of the first three rounds of the season over the contract period and will host a minimum of five season-opening races over the 13 years between 2023 and 2035.[29] From 2023,Formula 2 andFormula 3 races will form part of the race weekend schedule.[30] A further two-year extension was signed in December 2022, ensuring that the race would remain in Melbourne until 2037.[31]
After a two-year absence as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Australian Grand Prix returned in 2022. Unlike previous years, when it was the opening event of the season, the 2022 Australian Grand Prix was instead the third event of the season. In the months before the Grand Prix, in consultation with drivers,[32] the circuit underwent several significant revisions,[33][34] which were the first and most significant changes since the inaugural1996 Australian Grand Prix,[35] including the first track resurfacing since then.[36] Turns 9 and 10 were completely redesigned; where they formed a right–leftchicane with a heavy braking zone on the approach, the redesign saw them removed.[35] This was done to raise the approach speed for old turns 11 and 12.[37] Several other corners were reprofiled to encourage overtaking, most notably the old turn 13, which was widened to create additional racing lines.[38] Positive camber was also added to allow drivers to carry more speed through the corner.[39] The main straight andpit lane were also redesigned, with the pit lane wall moved two metres closer to the circuit so that the edge of the circuit sat directly next to the wall.[33] The2022 Grand Prix saw Ferrari'sCharles Leclerc achieve his first careergrand slam, having started inpole position, set thefastest lap, led every lap, and won the race ahead of Red Bull'sSergio Pérez and Mercedes'George Russell. It was the first grand slam for an individual Ferrari driver sinceFernando Alonso's at the2010 Singapore Grand Prix.[40] The 2022 edition set a new attendance record at the circuit for the weekend, with a reported 419,114 attendees, including 128,294 on race day; these figures made the 2022 Grand Prix the highest attended Grand Prix ever held in Melbourne and one of the most popular sporting weekends in Australian history.[41][42][43] The2023 edition, which sawMax Verstappen win his maiden Australian Grand Prix, would break the record with 444,631 attendees,[44] and would also break a Formula One record; the race, which ended with twelve cars left running, is the first everto have three red flags throughout the session. This came after a chaotic race that saw many incidents; theFormula 2 and Formula 3 races, held the same weekend, had a similar outcome.[45]
The2024 Australian Grand Prix, won byCarlos Sainz Jr., was notable for breaking numerous attendance records. The event sold out for the first time in its history,[46] and set a new attendance record at the circuit for the weekend with 452,055 spectators, making it the most attended sporting event ever inMelbourne,[44] and the fourth highest attended Formula One Grand Prix of all time, following the1995 edition of the race, held inAdelaide, with 520,000 attendees, and the2023 and2024 British Grands Prix, which both drew 480,000 attendees.[47] The2025 Australian Grand Prix was won byLando Norris after home favouriteOscar Piastri spun out of second place. Norris was under serious pressure asMax Verstappen chased him till the end.George Russell completed the podium.[48] A new attendance record at the circuit for the weekend with 465,498 spectators was set, making it the most attended sporting event ever in Melbourne and the fourth highest attended Formula One Grand Prix of all time.[49]
The move of the Australian Grand Prix to Melbourne saw a change in the time of year that the Formula 1 teams and personnel made their annual voyage to Australia. Adelaide, for each of its 11 years, was the final race of the F1 season, usually in October or November, while Melbourne has been the first race of the season in 23 out of the 28 times it has hosted the Grand Prix.[a] As such, the Albert Park circuit has seen the Formula One debuts of many drivers. 1997 World ChampionJacques Villeneuve made his race debut in Melbourne's first year of 1996, and became one of three men to secure pole position in his maiden Grand Prix. Other prominent names to debut in Melbourne are seven-time world championLewis Hamilton (2007), four-time World ChampionMax Verstappen (2015), two-time World ChampionFernando Alonso and one-time championKimi Räikkönen (both in 2001); former Australian F1 driver,Mark Webber, also made his debut there in 2002.
As part of celebrations for the tenth running of the event at Albert Park in 2005, Webber drove hisWilliams F1 car over theSydney Harbour Bridge in a promotional event, and the Melbourne city streets hosted a parade of F1 machinery andSupercars, Australia's highest-profile domestic motor sport category. For over thirty years, Supercars have competed in theSupercars Challenge non-championship event at the Australian Grand Prix. In2018, the event was contested for championship points for the first time, and was known as theMelbourne 400.[50][51]
The2021 event was originally scheduled to open the season in March, but moved to November due to COVID-19 restrictions and travel disruptions, then cancelled on 6 July.[52][53] It was also going through several changes to make the track faster.[54]
An issue that is frequently debated amongst both supporters and opponents of the Australian Grand Prix centres around the event's economic impact for the state of Victoria; proponents of the event claim that the event increases tourism, creates jobs and generates millions of dollars for the state of Victoria, while opponents dispute the event's economic benefits and cite the cost on taxpayers to host the event, as well as the disruptions generated by the event.[55] In 2014, the Victorian government claimed the annual economic impact of hosting the Australian Grand Prix was between $32 million and $39 million, with the event generating significant economic, social and cultural benefits including job creation, industry development, inward investment and tourism, while opponents of the event claimed that the event cost Victorian taxpayers over $50 million to host.[56]
According to a 2022 economic impact assessment conducted byErnst & Young, the2022 Australian Grand Prix generated an estimated $92 million of direct spending in the Victorian economy and boosted Victoria's Gross State Product by an estimated $171 million, with the Grand Prix also credited for driving up hotel occupancy and stimulating patronage for hospitality businesses.[57] This mirrors a 2011 EY report commissioned by Tourism Victoria, which found international exposure and tourism spending stemming from hosting the Grand Prix generated between $32.04 million and $39.34 million for Victoria's Gross State Product during the period in which the Grand Prix was held, while also generating between 351 and 411 full-time equivalent jobs.[58][59] According to an Economic Impact Assessment conducted by EY, the 2023 Australian Grand Prix contributed an estimated $268 million to the Victorian economy, including $144 million in direct expenditure and the creation of 1,149 full-time equivalent jobs,[60] with $128 million of direct investment contributed by 81,000 international and interstate visitors who attended the event.[61]
However, a cost-benefit analysis of the Australian Grand Prix done for the Auditor-General in 2005 revealed a net economic loss for Victoria, with the estimated costs of the event exceeding the benefits to Victorian taxpayers by 5 per cent,[62] a 2007 auditor-general's report found costs to host the event exceeded benefits by $6.7 million,[63][64] while a 2012 report commissioned by Economists at Large for Save Albert Park estimated that the 2012 Grand Prix resulted in a net economic loss to Victoria of between $48.8m and $66.7m, with a mid-range estimate of $60.55m.[65] The 2007 Australian Grand Prix ran at a $34.6 million loss,[66] while according to Crikey, the Australian Grand Prix made losses of $59.97 million in 2014, $61.7 million in 2015, $61 million in 2016 and $57.1 million in 2017.[67]
Over the decade preceding 2022, the Australian Grand Prix collectively cost Victorian taxpayers $537.5 million to host, with the 2019 Australian Grand Prix alone costing Victorian taxpayers $60.2 million to host, the 2022 Australian Grand Prix alone costing Victorian taxpayers $78.1 million to host, and the 2023 Grand Prix alone costing Victorian taxpayers $100.6 million to host.[68] The 2019 event generated $55 million in revenue but cost $115.2 million to stage, the 2022 event generated $75.1 million in revenue but cost $153.2 million to stage,[69] and the 2023 event generated $96.9 million in revenue but cost $197.6 million to stage.[70]
Celebrity Challenge, 2008 GPJenson Button, winner of the 2009, 2010 and 2012 Australian Grands Prix
Following the move of the Australian Grand Prix to Melbourne, spectator attendance peaked at 465,498 in 2025, but has never reached that of the last Adelaide race in 1995.
In 2009, higher unemployment and a snap public transport strike were cited byVictorian PremierJohn Brumby as a reason for a slight drop in crowds.[71][72] Attendance numbers improved in 2010 to an estimate of 305,000 – the largest since the 2005 race.
In contrast to other major sporting events in Australia such as theAFL Grand Final, theMelbourne Cup, theAustralian Open and theBoxing Day Test, the Australian Grand Prix Corporation does not release precise crowd figures for the Australian Grand Prix, citing security concerns; in responding to a freedom of information request, the Australian Grand Prix Corporation stated in 2022 that it believes that crowd figures are sensitive from a security and safety perspective, and disclosing it has the potential to affect the security of Victoria by assisting the operational system of possible threat actors.[73] Following an August 2023 freedom-of-information ruling by the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner which stated that that disclosure was important for "transparency and accountability", in September 2024, the Australian Grand Prix Corporation went to theVictorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to fight an order to reveal how it counts crowds for the Australian Grand Prix.[74]
Official attendance numbers, which are inexact and have been challenged by the anti-Grand Prix lobby group Save Albert Park as gross overestimates,[75][76] have been as follows:
1995 (Adelaide) – 520,000[77] (210,000 on race day)
1996 (Melbourne) – 401,000 (150,000 on race day)[78]
Driversin bold are competing in the Formula One championship in the current season. A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.
Four-timeWorld Drivers' ChampionAlain Prost was the only driver to win the race in both World Championship and domestic formats. Prost won the Australian Drivers' Championship1982 race, driving aFormula PacificRalt RT4, before winning in Adelaide in1986 and1988 in Formula One.
Australian driverLex Davison and German driverMichael Schumacher are the most successful drivers in the 88-year history of the event taking four wins each, whileFerrari has been the most successful constructor with fourteen victories.
Teamsin bold are competing in the Formula One championship in the current season. A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.
Manufacturersin bold are competing in the Formula One championship in the current season. A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.
Adelaide, used in Formula One from 1985 to 1995Melbourne, used in Formula One from 1996 to 2019 and since 2022A map of all the locations of the Australian Grand Prix.
A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.
* From 1932 to 1948, the winner was determined on a handicap basis.[98]
+ The 1937 event was staged as the "South Australian Centenary Grand Prix" on 26 December 1936.[99]
# The 1928 event was officially known as the "100 Miles Road Race".[100]
^Since the first race in Melbourne in 1996, the races which have not been first in the season are: 2006 (when it was the third race of the year to allow for the Commonwealth Games to take place in the city), 2010 (when it was the second race), and 2022–2024 (when it was the third race). With the event not taking place in 2020 (when it was scheduled to be the season opener but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic) and 2021 (when it was first postponed to later in the season and later cancelled, again due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
^Bell, Ray (1986). "1928". In Howard, Graham (ed.).The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix. Gordon, NSW: R & T Publishing. p. 14.ISBN0-9588464-0-5.
^Medley, John (1986). "1937". In Howard, Graham (ed.).The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix. Gordon, NSW: R & T Publishing. p. 82.ISBN0-9588464-0-5.
^Medley, John (1986). "1937". In Howard, Graham (ed.).The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix. Gordon, NSW: R & T Publishing. pp. 92, 102.ISBN0-9588464-0-5.
^Howard, Graham (1986). "1956".The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix. Gordon, NSW: R & T Publishing. pp. 218–226.ISBN0-9588464-0-5.
^Howard, Graham (1986). "1955".The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix. Gordon, NSW: R & T Publishing. p. 206.ISBN0-9588464-0-5.
^Wilson, Stewart (1986). "1970". In Howard, Graham (ed.).The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix. Gordon, NSW: R & T Publishing. pp. 346–348.ISBN0-9588464-0-5.
^Wilson, Stewart (1986). "1980". In Howard, Graham (ed.).The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix. Gordon, NSW: R & T Publishing. pp. 436–444.ISBN0-9588464-0-5.
^Wilson, Stewart (1986). "1983". In Howard, Graham (ed.).The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix. Gordon, NSW: R & T Publishing. p. 466.ISBN0-9588464-0-5.
^Wilson, Stewart (1986). "1984". In Howard, Graham (ed.).The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix. Gordon, NSW: R & T Publishing. p. 484.ISBN0-9588464-0-5.
^"2017 Annual Report"(PDF). Australian Grand Prix Corporation. 30 June 2017. p. 3.Archived(PDF) from the original on 24 November 2018. Retrieved27 May 2019.
^"2018 Annual Report"(PDF). Australian Grand Prix Corporation. 30 June 2018. p. 5.Archived(PDF) from the original on 12 March 2019. Retrieved27 May 2019.
.jpg)
.svg)
