Verstappen wins at a 23rd different circuit, Piastri becomes the third Australian driver to pick up their first F1 points on home soil and Hamilton becomes the first driver to record ten Albert Park podium finishes. Here’s a statistic from every driver’s 2023 Australian Grand Prix weekend.
🇳🇱 Max VERSTAPPEN
After taking pole at a 15th different circuit, Max Verstappen secured his first Australian Grand Prix, taking victory at a 23rd different circuit. Lewis Hamilton is now the only driver who has won at more circuits than Verstappen.
The Dutchman equalled Fernando Alonso’s tally of pole positions on Saturday and on Sunday equalled Ayrton Senna’s tally of 80 podium finishes. His 2023 Australian Grand Prix saw Verstappen score for a 22nd consecutive race, setting a new personal best for most races in a row in which he has scored. It is the sixth longest points streak in F1 history.
The 2023 Australian Grand Prix marked Verstappen’s 17th win in car number 1, overtaking Senna as the driver with the most wins in car number 1. Verstappen became the first Albert Park polesitter who did not lead at the end of the first lap to go on and take back the lead and win the race.
🇲🇽 Sergio PEREZ
After being eliminated in Q1 for the first time since the 2021 Dutch Grand Prix and recording his team’s worst-ever Australian Grand Prix qualifying result, Sergio Perez fought back to fifth in the race. Perez scored points for the 16th race in a row, making this the longest points-scoring streak of the Mexican’s career, beating his previous best of 15 consecutive top ten finishes between the 2016 German Grand Prix and the 2017 Spanish Grand Prix.
🇲🇨 Charles LECLERC
Setting the seventh fastest time, Charles Leclerc qualified outside of the top six for only the second time in the last 16 races at the 2023 Australian Grand Prix. He became the first driver to retire from the race, recording his second retirement in the first three races of the season. This was the first time Leclerc failed to finish at Albert Park. Leclerc became the first driver to record a first lap retirement at the Australian Grand Prix since Pastor Maldonado and Romain Grosjean in 2015.
🇪🇸 Carlos SAINZ
With fifth place on Saturday, Carlos Sainz recorded his best Australian Grand Prix qualifying result to date. On Sunday, Sainz picked up a 5-second time penalty ahead of the final restart, dropping him from fourth at the finish line to 12th in the final order. This was the first time Sainz has failed to score in a race which he has finished since the 2021 French Grand Prix. Sainz was the only driver who finished the 2023 Australian Grand Prix in a worse position than where he started.
🇬🇧 Lewis HAMILTON
Lewis Hamilton finished as runner-up in the 2023 Australian Grand Prix, becoming the first Formula 1 driver to finish on the podium in 17 different seasons. Having led five laps of the race, Hamilton also became the first driver to have led a lap in 17 different Formula 1 seasons, breaking the record of 16. Michael Schumacher had held the overall record since 2004.
This was the fifth time in his last six Australian Grand Prix appearances that Hamilton has finished as runner-up. Hamilton became the first driver to record ten podium finishes at the Australian Grand Prix. His second place saw Britain equal Germany as the nation to have had the most podium finishes at Albert Park. Both nations have now had 22 top three finishes at the track.
🇬🇧 George RUSSELL
George Russell stopped on the pit straight with a power unit failure, becoming the third retirement of the 2023 Australian Grand Prix. Russell’s DNF marked Mercedes’ failure to finish in Melbourne since Lewis Hamilton retired from the 2014 Australian Grand Prix. This was Russell’s first retirement since the 2022 British Grand Prix.
🇫🇷 Esteban OCON
Esteban Ocon made his 115th Grand Prix start at the 2023 Australian Grand Prix, overtaking Patrick Tambay as the French driver to have made the eighth most starts in Formula 1. Ocon was eliminated in Q2 for the third time in his four Albert Park appearances.
🇫🇷 Pierre GASLY
Pierre Gasly reached Q3 at the Australian Grand Prix for the first time in his career but had a Sunday to forget after crashing into his team-mate. His retirement ended a 14-race finishing streak for the French driver.
🇬🇧 Lando NORRIS
For the first time in his career, Lando Norris failed to reach Q3 for a third consecutive race. Norris lost his 100% Q3 appearance rate at the Australian Grand Prix as a result but maintains his record of out-qualifying his team-mate on every appearance at the Australian Grand Prix.
Norris went on to finish in sixth place, recording his first points finish since the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where he also finished sixth.
🇦🇺 Oscar PIASTRI
At the 2023 Australian Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri became the third Australian driver – after Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo – to race at Albert Park in Formula 1. Despite being eliminated in Q1, Piastri followed in the footsteps of manager Webber and Ricciardo and scored his maiden points on home soil at the Australian Grand Prix. Piastri is the first driver to pick up his first points at his home event since Lance Stroll at the 2017 Canadian Grand Prix.
🇫🇮 Valtteri BOTTAS
For the first time since the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix, Valtteri Bottas qualified on the back row of the grid at the 2023 Australian Grand Prix. It was the Finn’s first ever Q1 elimination at Albert Park. Bottas went on to finish 11th in the race, making this the first Melbourne race in which Bottas has failed to score since 2015, when he did not start the race after sustaining an injury in qualifying. His debut in 2013 is the only other time the Finn has failed to score at Albert Park.
🇨🇳 ZHOU Guanyu
Zhou Guanyu finished in ninth place at the 2023 Australian Grand Prix, recording his first points finish since the 2022 Italian Grand Prix. Zhou gained eight positions from where he started in the in the race – the most positions he’s gained in his career to date.
🇪🇸 Fernando ALONSO
On the weekend on which he became the driver to have started the Australian Grand Prix on the most occasions, Fernando Alonso equalled his team’s best ever qualifying result at Albert Park with fourth place. On Sunday, Alonso recorded the Silverstone-based team’s first podium finish at the Australian Grand Prix since Heinz Harald-Frentzen finished second for Jordan in 1999.
After recording his best qualifying result in Australia since 2010, Alonso became the fourth driver to record six podium finishes at Albert Park. This marked the first time since the 2013 Belgian, Italian and Singapore Grands Prix that Alonso finished on the podium for three consecutive races. It’s also the first time since 2013 that Alonso finished in the top three at the Australian Grand Prix.
🇨🇦 Lance STROLL
Prior to his sixth place in qualifying for the 2023 Australian Grand Prix, Lance Stroll had never previously reached Q3 at Albert Park. He went on to finish the race in fourth place, recording his best result since finishing on the podium at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix. It’s the first time Stroll finished in the top eight at Albert Park.
Stroll’s points see him move ahead of Daniil Kvyat to fifth on the list of most points scored without taking a Formula 1 victory.
🇩🇰 Kevin MAGNUSSEN
Kevin Magnussen became the fourth driver to retire from the 2023 Australian Grand Prix, with his crash bringing out the second red flag of the race. This was Magnussen’s third retirement from the Australian Grand Prix – the third time he’s retired from his last five appearances at the event.
🇩🇪 Nico HULKENBERG
At the 2023 Australian Grand Prix, Nico Hulkenbergn overtook Nick Heidfeld as the German driver to have made the fourth most Formula 1 starts. He also overtook Heidfeld for second on the list of drivers who have made the most Grand Prix starts without taking a victory.
Hulkenberg’s seventh place marked his best result since the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix in 2020, as well as the fifth time he’s finished seventh in his last six Australian Grand Prix appearances.
🇯🇵 Yuki TSUNODA
After finishing 11th in all of the three previous races, Yuki Tsunoda finally picked up his first point since the 2022 United States Grand Prix at the 2023 Australian Grand Prix. Tsunoda’s point saw him overtake Takuma Sato as the Japanese driver to have scored the second-most points in Formula 1. Only Kamui Kobayashi sits ahead of him in that list.
🇳🇱 Nyck DE VRIES
Crashing out with fellow rookie Logan Sargeant at the 2023 Australian Grand Prix’s final standing restart, Nyck de Vries recorded the first retirement of his Formula 1 career.
🇹🇭 Alex ALBON
Alex Albon reached Q3 at the Australian Grand Prix for the first time and recorded Williams’ best Albert Park qualifying result since 2017. While running an impressive sixth in the race, Albon crashed out of the race and recorded his second retirement of the 2023 season. His crash brought out the red flags, making this the third Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park to be red-flagged, after the 1996 and 2016 races.
🇺🇸 Logan SARGEANT
After maintaining his 100% Q1 exit rate on Saturday, Logan Sargeant recorded the first retirement of his Formula 1 career at the 2023 Australian Grand Prix. It wasn’t all bad for Sargeant, however. His 18th place in qualifying made this the first time since 2016 that neither Williams driver qualified on the back row of the grid at the Australian Grand Prix.
