?? THE 2020 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX
ROUND 1. 13TH-15TH MARCH.
1019TH F1 GRAND PRIX | 85TH AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX | 25TH GRAND PRIX AT ALBERT PARK
2019 POLESITTER: LEWIS HAMILTON | 2019 WINNER: VALTTERI BOTTAS
The 2020 Australian Grand Prix has been cancelled. The announcement of the event’s cancellation came after a member of the McLaren team tested positive for coronavirus. The race will not be rescheduled.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Friday 13th March
Free Practice 1 (12pm Local Time/ 1am UK Time)
Free Practice 2 (4pm Local Time/ 5am UK Time)
Saturday 14th March
Free Practice 3 (2pm Local Time/ 3am UK Time)
Qualifying (5pm Local Time/ 6am UK Time)
Sunday 15th March
The 2020 Australian Grand Prix (4:10pm Local Time/ 5:10am UK Time)
WEEKEND NOTES
- The barrier at Turns 2 and 3 has been realigned closer to the track
- The asphalt path between the pit exit and the track (which Daniel Ricciardo broke his front wing on last season) has been smoothed out
- Just as in both 2018 and 2019, the track will have two DRS detection points and three activation zones. The detection zones are located before turns 11 and 14, while the activation zones are on the main straight, between turns 2 and 3 and between turns 12 and 13.
- Due to the tight confines of the pit lane, the pit lane speed limit for this event is 60km/h
- Information about the race weekend, such as DRS zones and track changes, will be posted here.
?? WEEKEND MILESTONES AND RECORDS
- This will be the 25th F1 race held at Albert Park since the circuit joined the calendar in 1996.
- This will be the 800th F1 race to feature a German driver. It will also be the first race since the 1994 Portuguese Grand Prix that only one German driver has entered.
- This weekend, Kimi Raikkonen will become the driver to have raced at the Albert Park circuit on the most occasions.
- Nicholas Latifi will become the 765th driver to have started a round of the Drivers’ Championship.
- The 2020 Australian Grand Prix will be the first F1 race to feature two Canadian drivers since Bill Brack, Al Pease and John Cordts lined up on the grid for the 1969 Canadian Grand Prix.
- The 2020 Australian Grand Prix will be the first race for the AlphaTauri name. It will make them the 163rd different constructor to have started a round of the Drivers’ Championship. This race will also be the first since the 2005 Chinese Grand Prix to not feature the Toro Rosso name on the grid.
- At the 2020 Australian Grand Prix, the Alfa Romeo name will equal the number of races started by the Osella team. Osella started 132 races, with their last appearance being at the 1990 Australian Grand Prix.
You can find more information about the records which could be beaten this weekend in our Milestones and Records to Beat post.
ALL THE INFO
Click the links below to see all the stats and circuit history you could need ahead of the race!
- Albert Park: The Ultimate Track Guide
- Albert Park Track Stats
- Milestones and Records to Beat
- Team Form
- Driver Form
- Grid Slot Stats
- Albert Park Power Performers
- 2019 Australian Grand Prix Statistics
- 2018 Australian Grand Prix Statistics
2019 RACE RECAP
Despite the pre-season hype for Ferrari domination, Lewis Hamilton clocked up an eighth Australian Grand Prix pole and Valtteri Bottas stormed to the first victory of the 2019 season.
For a sixth consecutive year, Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the Australian Grand Prix, while rookie Lando Norris impressed with a top ten grid slot for McLaren. It was Valtteri Bottas who led into the first corner however. Further back, Daniel Ricciardo ran over his own front wing on the run to Turn 1, bringing a premature end to his Renault debut. It was Carlos Sainz who was the first retirement of the season, however, with his Renault engine giving up eleven laps into the proceedings. There was a nightmare stop for Haas who, in a repeat of events twelve months previous, struggled to attach a wheel to Romain Grosjean’s car. The Frenchman later retired. Back on track, Norris found a way past Antonio Giovinazzi after the Alfa Romeo driver had held the McLaren up for multiple laps. Max Verstappen similarly overtook Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari, leaving the German open to attack from new team-mate Charles Leclerc; Ferrari eventually telling their new driver to maintain position. A late race battle to set the fastest lap ensued, which Bottas eventually came out on top of on his way to a dominant victory. Team-mate Hamilton finished twenty seconds behind, while Max Verstappen guided Honda to their first podium finish since 2008 on their début outing with Red Bull.
PRESS CONFERENCE SCHEDULES
The world’s media will have the opportunity to talk to the drivers on the Thursday before the race. Appearing in the Drivers’ Press Conference for this race weekend will be:
Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
Daniel Ricciardo (Renault)
Nicholas Latifi (Williams)
The media also be talking to prominent members of Formula 1’s teams on Friday. Appearing in the Teams’ Press Conference for this race weekend will be:
Mattia Binotto (Ferrari)
Zak Brown (McLaren)
Toto Wolff (Mercedes)
Christian Horner (Red Bull)
DRIVER STEWARD
Each weekend a former Formula 1 driver, or a driver from another prominent series of motorsport, joins the stewards to help judge any incidents from a drivers’ perspective. The Driver Steward this weekend will be Emanuele Pirro.
WEATHER FORECAST
The weather forecast for the week ahead at the circuit currently looks like this:
[wpc-weather id=”4244″/]
FASTEST EVER LAP
1:20.486
The fastest ever lap of the circuit was set by Lewis Hamilton in 2019. Will it be beaten over the race weekend? Find track records and lap records for every circuit on the F1 calendar here.
TYRE CHOICES
Pirelli have revealed that the C2, C3 and C4 compounds will be used for the Australian Grand Prix weekend. Here’s each driver’s selection of tyres:
RECENT FASTEST LAPS IN EACH SESSION
| Session | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
| Free Practice 1 | 1:24.220 (Lewis Hamilton) | 1:24.026 (Lewis Hamilton) | 1:23.599 (Lewis Hamilton) |
| Free Practice 2 | 1:23.620 (Lewis Hamilton) | 1:23.931 (Lewis Hamilton) | 1:22.600 (Lewis Hamilton) |
| Free Practice 3 | 1:23.380 (Sebastian Vettel) | 1:26.067 (Sebastian Vettel) | 1:22.292 (Lewis Hamilton) |
| Qualifying | 1:22.188 (Lewis Hamilton) | 1:21.164 (Lewis Hamilton) | 1:20.486 (Lewis Hamilton) |
| Grand Prix | 1:26.538 (Kimi Raikkonen) | 1:25.945 (Daniel Ricciardo) | 1:25.580 (Valtteri Bottas) |