Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, 03/17/2013

Albert Park, Melbourne

From 1996, with the exceptions of 2006 and 2010, the opening race of the F1 Championship was always held in Melbourne. In this temporary city circuit around Albert Park Lake, drivers and teams have to deal with a tarmac with low grip, while it constantly improves over the race weekend. The walls very close to some sections of the track, let drivers who commit a mistake, always pay a high price. Due to possible weather changes, considering that the race is held in Australia’s autumn, the Albert Park circuit often offers chaotic and exciting races. Since 2009 the race starts at 5pm local time, to accommodate European TV stations.

Keep an eye on
The corners no.11-12, a left-right-combination with an open throttle in fifth gear at over 220 km/h. a real challenge for the drivers, who exploit every centimetre of the track, including the kerbs.

Did you know that
As a fixed point of the F1 Championship since 1985, the first 11 editions of the Australian GP were held at the city circuit in Adelaide as the last race of the season. While in Adelaide the Scuderia gained only one one-two win in 1987 with Berger-Alboreto, on the track in Melbourne the Scuderia has much more to tell: in 1999 Eddie Irvine won his first race in Formula One there, followed by a hat trick by Michael Schumacher from 2000 to 2002. With the fourth win in 2004 the German driver became the man with the most victories on this track. Later on, in 2007, Kimi Raikkonen won his first race there with Ferrari.

See what happened last year ->

• Victories

  1. 1987 BergerF1-87
  2. 1999 IrvineF399
  3. 2000 SchumacherF1-2000
  4. 2001 SchumacherF2001
  5. 2002 SchumacherF2002
  6. 2004 SchumacherF2004
  7. 2007 RaikkonenF2007

• Pole Positions

  1. 1987 BergerF1-87
  2. 1999 IrvineF399
  3. 2000 SchumacherF1-2000
  4. 2001 SchumacherF2001
  5. 2002 SchumacherF2002
  6. 2003 SchumacherF2003-GA
  7. 2004 SchumacherF2004
  8. 2007 SchumacherF2007

• Race best laps

  1. 1987 BergerF1-87
  2. 2000 SchumacherF1-2000
  3. 2001 SchumacherF2001
  4. 2002 BarrichelloF2002
  5. 2003 SchumacherF2003-GA
  6. 2004 SchumacherF2004
  7. 2007 RaikkonenF2007
  8. 2011 Massa Ferrari 150° Italia

• Podiums

  1. First place:7 times
  2. Second place:7 times
  3. Third place:5 times

• Hall of Honours

  1. 1985 K. RosbergWILLIAMS-HONDA
  2. 1986 A. ProstMCLAREN-PORSCHE
  3. 1987 G. BergerFERRARI
  4. 1988 A. ProstMCLAREN-HONDA
  5. 1989 T. BoutsenWILLIAMS-FORD
  6. 1990 N. PiquetBENETTON-FORD
  7. 1991 A. SennaMCLAREN-HONDA
  8. 1992 G. BergerMCLAREN-HONDA
  9. 1993 A. SennaMCLAREN-FORD
  10. 1994 N. MansellWILLIAMS-RENAULT
  11. 1995 D. HillWILLIAMS-RENAULT
  12. 1996 D. HillWILLIAMS-RENAULT
  13. 1997 D. CoulthardMCLAREN-MERCEDES
  14. 1998 M. HakkinenMCLAREN-MERCEDES
  15. 1999 E. IrvineFERRARI
  16. 2000 M. SchumacherFERRARI
  17. 2001 M. SchumacherFERRARI
  18. 2002 M. SchumacherFERRARI
  19. 2003 D. CoulthardMCLAREN-MERCEDES
  20. 2004 M. SchumacherFERRARI
  21. 2005 G. FisichellaRENAULT
  22. 2006 F. AlonsoRENAULT
  23. 2007 K. RaikkonenFERRARI
  24. 2008 L. HamiltonMCLAREN-MERCEDES
  25. 2009 J. ButtonBRAWN GP-MERCEDES
  26. 2010 J. ButtonMCLAREN-MERCEDES
  27. 2011 S. VettelRED BULL-RENAULT
  28. 2012 J. ButtonMCLAREN-MERCEDES

Updated at the end of season 2012

• Practice 1
• Practice 2
• Practice 3
• Qualifying
• Race