A guide to the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park

Melbourne is a proud sporting city, playing host to several world-leading events, and few are bigger than Formula 1’s annual visit to the unique surroundings of Albert Park for the Australian Grand Prix.

For a temporary facility and a track made up of public roads and car parks running through parkland, few tracks do F1 better than Albert Park.

Although technically a street circuit, the track is fast and flowing with drivers averaging around 235km/h during a lap, and while it may it lack overtaking points, it has won favour with many a driver. 

It can be quite a bumpy circuit, one that doesn’t have much grip at the start of a race weekend, rubbering in as sessions progress, but that all adds to the drama of a venue that has a habit of throwing up the occasional surprise winner.

Although not all the locals are on board, the Australian Grand Prix regularly attracts huge crowds.

Albert Park stats

Opened	1996
First F1 race at Albert Park	1996
Lap length	5.231km
F1 lap record	1:19:813 – Charles Leclerc (2024)
Number of corners	14
DRS Zones	2

Where is Albert Park?

Having previously staged motorsport events at Fisherman's Creek, which ran alongside the docks and rubbish dump, Melbourne officials decided they needed far nicer surroundings when trying to wrestle the Australian Grand Prix away from Adelaide.

They settled on Albert Park, which lies just three kilometres from the centre of Melbourne, deciding upon a layout that runs around the outside of the man-made lake in the middle of the park.

The decision to hold a race in Albert Park proved somewhat controversial amongst locals with organisers needing to remove some trees and facilities to make way for the track and its peripherals.

The track was completely revamped before Melbourne staged its first race in 1996, while construction of a two-storey pit lane was also completed.

With it being a park for most of the year before Formula 1 takes over in the lead up to the grand prix, the majority of the facilities are temporary with the pit lane building the only permanent feature.

Previous Australian Grand Prix winners

Key corners at Albert Park

Alan Jones (Turn 1)

The corners at the Albert park circuit are named after some of Formula 1's most iconic racing drivers, including 1980 world champion Alan Jones.

Entry into Turn 1 is vital to carrying enough speed into Turn 2 and down the second straight, with overtaking opportunities plentiful in the first sector.

Arthur Waite (Turn 9)

With cars going flat-out after passing through Turn 8, cars will approach the Turn 9/10 flip-flop at speeds in excess of 330 km/h.

Drivers are subjected to 5.4G as they turn left into Turn 9 and sweep through into Turn 10 at a frightening pace.

Alberto Ascari (Turn 11)

Turn 11 marks the start of a technical section through the third sector and drivers have to judge their braking point to perfection as they tackle this 90 degree right-hander.

The 2022 reprofiling of the circuit resulted in the entry of this corner being straightened and widened by three metres in a bid to increase overtaking opportunities.

Interesting facts about Albert Park

• Michael Schumacher has won more races than any other F1 driver at Albert Park, enjoying a dominant spell between 2000 and 2004 when he won four out of five races.
• It takes around four weeks and 290,000 man hours to bring the area up to F1 standards with barriers, grandstands and fencing all needing to be installed.
• An Australian driver has never finished on the podium at Albert Park since the circuit was introduced to the F1 calendar in 1996.
• The lowest grid slot of a race winner at Albert Park is 11th, which was achieved by David Coulthard in 2003.

How to buy tickets for the Australian Grand Prix

The immensely popular Australian Grand Prix sees crowds of over 450,000 flock to Melbourne over a race weekend.

Tickets are available to purchase via the official F1 page and Ticketmaster - although you'll have to be quick!

There are 18 grandstands to pick from and a general admission pass.