The Australian Grand Prix is oldest surviving motor racing competition held annually in Australia, having been held 79 times since it was first run at Phillip Island in 1928.
Since 1985, the race has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Championship and is currently held at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit at Albert Park in Melbourne.
Prior to its inclusion in the World Championship, it was held at a multitude of venues in every state of Australia.
After it became a part of the Formula 1 World Championship in 1985, it was held at the Adelaide Street Circuit in (South Australia) from that year to 1995, before moving to Melbourne in 1996 and the latter circuit is currently under contract to host Formula 1 until 2023.
Australian driver Lex Davison and German driver Michael Schumacher are the most successful drivers in the 86-year history of the event taking four wins each; while McLaren has been the most successful constructor with twelve victories, its success stretching back into the pre-Formula One history of the race as is scored its first win in 1970.
Frenchman Alain Prost is the only driver to win the Australian Grand Prix in both non-championship and World Championship formats, having won the race in 1982, 1986, and again in 1988.
Australian Grand Prix, Round 1 of the 2017 Formula 1 season
Circuit Name: Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit – Street Cicuit
Race Laps: 58
Circuit Length: 5.303 km (3.295 mi)
Race Length: 307.574 km (191.071 mi)
Number of corners: 16 (10 Right, 6 Left)
DRS Zone: Two Zones (Zone 1between turn 2 and 3, zone 2 Start/Finish Line between Turn 16 and 1)
Circuit Direction: Clockwise
Pole Position 2016: Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes 1:23.837
Lap record: 1:24.125 – Michael Schumacher, Ferrari 2004
Melbourne Circuit
Pirelli used compounds
For the first 5 round of the 2017 Formula 1 season, Pirelli will supply all teams with the same sets of compounds, following the introduction on the new wider and bigger tires.
Compounds sets will be as follows:
7 of the softest (P Zero Purple ultrasoft here)
5 of the middle (P Zero Red supersoft here)
2 of the Hardest (P Zero Yellow soft here)
Tyres that must be available (one of them to be used) at some point in the race:
One set of P Zero White medium
One set of P Zero Yellow soft
Tyres assigned for Q3 in qualifying:
P Zero Purple ultrasoft here
THE CIRCUIT FROM A TYRE POINT OF VIEW:
A semi-permanent track: always ‘green’ and dirty at the start of the weekend.
Hard acceleration and braking: longitudinal forces are greater than lateral ones.
Lots of slow corners: emphasis on mechanical grip and high downforce.
Left-rear tyre is worked hardest.
Anything can happen with the weather: from bright sunshine to torrential rain.
Reasonably smooth asphalt, so tyre wear and degradation is comparatively low.
MARIO ISOLA – HEAD OF CAR RACING
“The teams completed 7427 laps of Barcelona during pre-season testing, using all the compounds but concentrating on the medium and soft tyres, which were the ones best suited to Montmeló. In Melbourne, it’s going to be interesting to collect more data on the ultrasoft and supersoft compounds, which we’ve not been able to fully assess up to now.”
MELBOURNE MINIMUM STARTING PRESSURES (SLICKS)
22 psi (fronts) – 19.5 psi (rears)
Australian Grand Prix Winners 1985 – 2016
|
Year |
Driver |
Constructor |
Circuit |
|
|
2016 |
|
Mercedes |
Albert Park |
|
|
2015 |
|
Mercedes |
||
|
2014 |
|
Mercedes |
||
|
2013 |
|
Lotus-Renault |
||
|
2012 |
|
McLaren-Mercedes |
||
|
2011 |
|
Red Bull-Renault |
||
|
2010 |
|
McLaren-Mercedes |
||
|
2009 |
|
Brawn-Mercedes |
||
|
2008 |
|
McLaren-Mercedes |
||
|
2007 |
|
Ferrari |
||
|
2006 |
|
Renault |
||
|
2005 |
|
Renault |
||
|
2004 |
|
Ferrari |
||
|
2003 |
|
McLaren-Mercedes |
||
|
2002 |
|
Ferrari |
||
|
2001 |
|
Ferrari |
||
|
2000 |
|
Ferrari |
||
|
1999 |
|
Ferrari |
||
|
1998 |
|
McLaren-Mercedes |
||
|
1997 |
|
McLaren-Mercedes |
||
|
1996 |
|
Williams-Renault |
||
|
1995 |
|
Williams-Renault |
Adelaide |
|
|
1994 |
|
Williams-Renault |
||
|
1993 |
|
McLaren-Ford |
||
|
1992 |
|
McLaren-Honda |
||
|
1991 |
|
McLaren-Honda |
||
|
1990 |
|
Benetton-Ford |
||
|
1989 |
|
Williams-Renault |
||
|
1988 |
|
McLaren-Honda |
||
|
1987 |
|
Ferrari |
||
|
1986 |
|
McLaren-TAG |
||
|
1985 |
|
Williams-Honda |
Multiple Winners (Drivers)
|
Number of wins |
Driver |
Years Won |
|
4 |
Michael Schumacher |
2000, 2001, 2002, 2004 |
|
3 |
Jenson Button |
2009, 2010, 2012 |
|
2 |
Alain Prost |
1986, 1988 |
|
Gerhard Berger |
1987, 1992 |
|
|
Ayrton Senna |
1991, 1993 |
|
|
Damon Hill |
1995, 1996 |
|
|
David Coulthard |
1997, 2003 |
|
|
Kimi Raikkonen |
2007, 2013 |
|
|
Lewis Hamilton |
2008, 2015 |
|
|
Nico Rosberg |
2014, 2016 |
Multiple Winners (Constructors)
|
Wins |
Constructor |
Years Won |
|
|
11 |
|
1986, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2012 |
|
|
7 |
|
1987, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2007 |
|
|
5 |
|
1985, 1989, 1994, 1995, 1996 |
|
|
3 |
|
2014, 2015, 2016 |
|
|
2 |
|
2005, 2006 |
Numbers and Facts
Most wins (driver) 4 Michael Schumacher (2000 – 2001 – 2002 – 2004)
Most wins (constructor) 11 McLaren (1986 – 1988 – 1991 – 1992 – 1993 – 1997 – 1998 – 2003 – 2008 – 2010 – 2012)
Wins from pole position 14 Most recent 2015 (Lewis Hamilton for Mercedes)
Lowest grid for past winner 11 David Coulthard 2003
Most recent 1-2 finish 2016 Nico Rosberg – Lewis Hamilton for Mercedes
Most emphatic win (here) 38.020s, 1996 between Damon Hill – Jacques Villeneuve
Closest winning margin 0.702s,1997 between Mika Hakkinen – David Coulthard
Rain-affected races 3, 1989 – 1991 – 2010
Safety Car-affected races 12, 1999 – 2000 – 2001 – 2002 – 2003 – 2006 – 2008 – 2009 – 2010 – 2014 – 2015 – 2016
Red Flag (and result declared) races 1, 1991 race stopped and result declared after 14 laps (race Red Flagged in 2016 but restarted)
Fastest race 1991 14 laps @ 24’34.899
Slowest race (here) 2016 57 laps @1:48’15.565
Most pole positions (driver) 6 Ayrton Senna (1985 – 1988 – 1989 – 1990 – 1991 – 1993)
Most pole positions (constructor) 10 McLaren (1988 – 1989 – 1991 – 1993 – 1998 – 1999 – 2000 – 2008 – 2012)
What Happened last race here?
Hamilton took the first pole position of the season and the fiftieth of his career in a qualifying session that saw the introduction of a new one-by-one elimination format that was widely criticised.
His teammate Nico Rosberg took victory ahead of Hamilton and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.
At the end of the formation lap, Daniil Kvyat was unable to reach the grid due to an electrical issue. Therefore, the field went to another formation lap and the race was shortened accordingly to 57 laps. Later, the race was stopped on lap 18 following an accident involving Fernando Alonso and Esteban Gutiérrez.
Mercedes used the break for a change of tyres that allowed their drivers to take a 1–2 finish after Vettel had initially led the race from the start. Romain Grosjean finished sixth, scoring points for the Haas F1 team on their début, the first completely new team to do so since 2002.
2016 Race Classification
|
Pos. |
Driver |
Constructor |
Time/Retired |
Grid |
|
1 |
Nico Rosberg |
Mercedes |
1:48:15.565 |
2 |
|
2 |
Lewis Hamilton |
Mercedes |
+8.06 |
1 |
|
3 |
Sebastian Vettel |
Ferrari |
+9.643 |
3 |
|
4 |
Daniel Ricciardo |
Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer |
+24.33 |
8 |
|
5 |
Felipe Massa |
Williams-Mercedes |
+58.979 |
6 |
|
6 |
Romain Grosjean |
Haas-Ferrari |
+1:12.081 |
19 |
|
7 |
Nico Hülkenberg |
Force India-Mercedes |
+1:14.199 |
10 |
|
8 |
Valtteri Bottas |
Williams-Mercedes |
+1:15.153 |
16 |
|
9 |
Carlos Sainz, Jr. |
Toro Rosso-Ferrari |
+1:15.680 |
7 |
|
10 |
Max Verstappen |
Toro Rosso-Ferrari |
+1:16.833 |
5 |
|
11 |
Jolyon Palmer |
Renault |
+1:23.399 |
13 |
|
12 |
Kevin Magnussen |
Renault |
+1:25.606 |
14 |
|
13 |
Sergio Pérez |
Force India-Mercedes |
+1:31.699 |
9 |
|
14 |
Jenson Button |
McLaren-Honda |
+1 Lap |
12 |
|
15 |
Felipe Nasr |
Sauber-Ferrari |
+1 Lap |
17 |
|
16 |
Pascal Wehrlein |
MRT-Mercedes |
+1 Lap |
21 |
|
Ret |
Marcus Ericsson |
Sauber-Ferrari |
Transmission |
15 |
|
Ret |
Kimi Räikkönen |
Ferrari |
Turbo |
4 |
|
Ret |
Rio Haryanto |
MRT-Mercedes |
Driveshaft |
22 |
|
Ret |
Esteban Gutiérrez |
Haas-Ferrari |
Collision |
20 |
|
Ret |
Fernando Alonso |
McLaren-Honda |
Collision |
11 |
|
DNS |
Daniil Kvyat |
Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer |
Electrical |
|
Did you know?
DRIVERS
✪ Nico Rosberg qualified either on pole or P2 for every race in 2016. He was the first driver to qualify on the front row for all races in a season since Damon Hill in 1996
✪ Lewis Hamilton is just 7 pole positions from equalling Michael Schumacher’s all-time record of 68 F1 GP pole positions. Since he has been at Mercedes he has taken
pole 35 times already. That is over 40% of all races he’s started for the team (35/ 78 = 44.9%)
✪ In the 78 events that Hamilton and Rosberg were Mercedes teammates they locked-out the front row 44 times (56.4%)
✪ Hamilton has won (53) 28.2% of all GP he’s started (188) and is in the top 10 drivers races to win ratio of all-time. This is how he compares: 1. Fangio 47.0%, 2. Ascari 40.6%, 3. Clark 34.7%, 4. M. Schumacher 29.7%, 5. Hamilton 28.2% 6. Ja. Stewart 27.2% 7. Prost 25.6% 8. A. Senna 25.5%, 9. S. Moss 24.2% 10. Vettel 23.6% (42/ 178)
✪ If Hamilton can lead at least 1 race lap on Sunday the 2017 Australian Grand Prix will be the 100th race he will have led in his 10 year-long F1 career
✪ Before Valtteri Bottas Hamilton has had 4 different teammates in F1. Fernando Alonso, Heikki Kovalainen, Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg. Of the 4 Alonso is now the only one left racing in F1
✪ Daniel Ricciardo has now scored more F1 Championship points than Ayrton Senna (616: 614). Last season, he and Rosberg were the only drivers to qualify for Q3 for
all 21 races
✪ Sebastian Vettel has only taken pole once for Ferrari, in Singapore 2015
✪ Vettel’s fastest lap award in Abu Dhabi was the 78th of his F1 career and = Jim Clark
✪ Sergio Perez needs just 1 more podium to become the Mexican driver with the most F1 podiums (currently =1 with Pedro Rodriguez on 7)
✪ Stoffel Vandoorne celebrates his 25th birthday on race day, 26th March
AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX
✪ Hamilton is the only race winner in Australia to have started from pole position in the last 5 years (2015)
✪ It remains a fact that after 32 F1 World Championship Grand Prix to date an Australian driver has still to finish on the podium for his home race. The best results to date
for an Australian in either Adelaide or Melbourne are 4th by Mark Webber in 2012 and also by Daniel Ricciardo last year. What price a ‘shooey’ on Sunday?
✪ Vettel when he’s finished the race has only once (in 2009) failed to finish on the podium
CONSTRUCTORS
✪ Mercedes in Australia will be aiming to lockout the front row for the 48th time. The all-time record is 62 and is jointly held by McLaren and Williams
✪ 93.75% of all Mercedes’s wins to date have come from front row starts (60/ 64)
✪ Mercedes in Abu Dhabi extended the record for the most poles in a single season to 20
✪ The 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix marked the 150th F1 win for Mercedes engines in F1 (please don’t say 150th win for Brixworth because the race-winning engines in the
1950’s were made in Germany)
✪ Mercedes finish 1-2 in the US, in Mexico, in Brazil and in Abu Dhabi in 2016 just as they managed to do in 2015. They also finished 1-2 in Australia last season. Can they
do so again? If they do it will also be the 3rd year in a row that Mercedes will have finished the Australian Grand Prix 1st and 2nd
✪ In 2016, Mercedes led 1,055 race laps, a record for a F1 season. The only other constructor to have led 1,000 laps or more in a season is McLaren in 1988 (1,003). The
2016 season coincidentally was the 40th anniversary of the first time the F1 World Championship was competed over 1,000 race laps or more (1976 – 1,030)
✪ If Red Bull can score a podium in Australia it will be the 100th Grand Prix at which at least 1 of their drivers has featured on the race podium
✪ Ferrari last season was the only team to score championship points at all 21 events
✪ The current Williams team traces its origins back to the setting up of Williams Grand Prix Engineering by Frank Williams and Patrick Head in 1977. This year the team will
be celebrating its 40th anniversary. The team began by running a March for Belgian Patrick Neve and became a constructor in 1978 running a single FW06 car for Alan
Jones. In 1979 the team expanded to 2 cars with Clay Regazzoni joining Jones. Regazzoni won Williams’s first Grand Prix, at Silversone in 1979 while Jones claimed
Williams’s first driver’s and constructor’s titles in 1980. Frank Williams had made his first forays into F1 in 1969, running a Brabham for Piers Courage. Campaigns with De
Tomaso, private March’s, with his own cars and ex-works Heskeths latterly in conjunction with Canadian-Austrian entrepreneur Walter Wolf followed but it wasn’t until Williams teamed up with Head and started a new team all over again that Williams’s F1 fortunes really took off
✪ Williams has not led a Grand Prix since leading the British Grand Prix 18 months ago
AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX
✪ Mercedes chasing a 4th Australian Grand Prix win in a row to equal the record for consecutive wins set by Ferrari 1999 – 2002. Additionally, the team is looking to finish
the race first and second for the 3rd year in a row. Mercedes is already the only team to have finished first and second in Australia in consecutive seasons
✪ Red Bull has failed to start one of its two cars here for the past 2 years
Driver’s penalty points:
|
Driver |
Penalty points |
|
Daniil Kvyat |
8 |
|
Sebastian Vettel |
6 |
|
Carlos Sainz Jr |
5 |
|
Valtteri Bottas |
4 |
|
Pascal Wehrlein |
4 |
|
Kevin Magnussen |
4 |
|
Esteban Ocon |
4 |
|
Jolyon Palmer |
4 |
|
Sergio Perez |
3 |
|
Kimi Raikkonen |
2 |
|
Nico Hulkenberg |
2 |
|
Marcus Erricson |
2 |
|
Felipe Massa |
2 |
|
Max Verstappen |
1 |