AUSTRALIAN GP

31 March-2 April 2023 Albert Park

THE MAIN EVENT

Home of the Australian Grand Prix since 1996, Melbourne was formerly the preferred choice as season opener, and not just because (now former) F1 commercial chief Bernie Ecclestone and the late Australian GP Corporation boss Ron Walker were best buddies. The state capital of Victoria has a pleasingly laid-back and cosmopolitan vibe and plenty of ardent F1 fans, making for a great atmosphere.

Logistics have dictated a shimmy down the order but the GP remains hotly anticipated thanks to the F1 debut of local boy Oscar Piastri. He’ll be hoping for better luck at Albert Park than F1’s last Australian, Daniel Ricciardo…

2022 RACE RECAP

After two pre-race furores – one a pointless intervention from the race director regarding drivers’ jewellery, the other a controversial deletion of a DRS zone for safety reasons – the first Australian GP since 2019 got under way with Charles Leclerc leading from pole. Ferrari seemed to have a pace advantage over Red Bull at Albert Park, hence the brouhaha over removing the DRS zone in the redeveloped section between Turns 8 and 9; Red Bull was one of the teams seemingly disadvantaged by this late change.

In the event, Max Verstappen only made a serious challenge during Safety Car restarts before a fuel leak caused his car to catch fire on lap 39. Anti-stall issues at the start set the other Ferrari of Carlos Sainz back and he spun while charging back into contention. Sergio Pérez brought the second Red Bull home 20.5s adrift of Leclerc, with George Russell third for Mercedes.

KEY CORNER: TURN 3 One of the few obvious overtaking opportunities on the lap, this sharp righthander now offers even greater encouragement to late brakers thanks to last year’s reprofiling.