Albert Park: The Ultimate Track Guide

In a race strewn with Safety Car outings and red flag periods, Verstappen secured his first Albert Park victory – and Red Bull’s first Australian Grand Prix win since 2011.

While GPS issues and a red flag for a stoppage by Logan Sargeant curtailed running in Free Practice 1 at Albert Park, rain halfway through Free Practice 2 limited Friday running at Albert Park. There was a further red flag on Saturday morning due to debris from Nyck de Vries’ AlphaTauri.

Max Verstappen had been fastest in the final practice session and his pace converted into qualifying, with the Dutchman securing another pole position. Team-mate Sergio Perez had struggled with multiple trips across the run-off areas in Free Practice 3 and he did so again in qualifying, beaching himself in the gravel in Q1.

Front row starter George Russell clinched the lead from Verstappen at Turn 1 as team-mate Lewis Hamilton challenged the Red Bull into Turn 3, making it a Mercedes 1-2. Further back, Charles Leclerc spun out prompting the first Safety Car period of the race.

The race resumed without incident until Lap 7 when Alex Albon, who had been running in an impressive sixth place for Williams, crashed heavily into the barriers leaving gravel and debris across the track. Russell opted to pit under the Safety Car period – but the red flag was shown one lap later.

Russell’s pit stop left Hamilton at the front of the field when the race restarted. Hamilton stayed ahead of the chasing pack, though Verstappen was soon on his tail with DRS, making a move stick on Lap 12. Russell’s afternoon came to a disappointing end on Lap 18, with him pulling to the side with a smoking engine.

Perez’s comeback from his lowly starting place got underway with a number of bold moves in the midpack. Meanwhile, a wide moment for Verstappen at the penultimate corner cost the Red Bull driver time.

The yellow flags made a reappearance after Kevin Magnussen hit the wall on Lap 54, shedding a tyre carcass in the process. The red flag was shown shortly after, meaning the race was to restart again on Lap 57 for what was to be a two lap shootout.

Any hopes of a two lap shootout came to nothing at Turn 1, where chaos ensued. After a collision between rookies Logan Sargeant and Nyck de Vries at the opening corner, the two Alpine drivers collided through the next turn after Fernando Alonso was tipped into a spin by Carlos Sainz. The carnage resulted in an immediate red flag.

Positions were set back to how they had been before the previous restart and the race resumed for a single Safety Car-led lap, with the drivers unable to overtake during the rolling restart towards the chequered flag. Max Verstappen secured Red Bull’s first Australian Grand Prix win in 12 years, while Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso completed the podium.

Carlos Sainz was disappointed to be demoted from fourth to 12^th at the end of the race as a result of his collision with Alonso, while Oscar Piastri picked up the first points of his Formula 1 career on home soil with an eighth place finish.

It was a near-perfect Australian Grand Prix weekend for Charles Leclerc, who secured the first Grand Slam of his career. 

Formula 1 returned to Albert Park for the first time since 2019, with the 2022 Australian Grand Prix the first to take place on a revised layout of the Albert Park circuit. Sebastian Vettel returned after missing the first two races of the season with coronavirus. His antics at the end of Free Practice 1 made headlines, as he took a scooter ride back to the pit lane after his car broke down – for which he later picked up a fine. His weekend didn’t get much better on Saturday, with him crashing out in final practice along with Aston Martin team-mate Lance Stroll. 

Vettel failed to make it out on track at the start of qualifying at Albert Park as his car could not be repaired in time but Aston Martin were successful in getting Stroll out on track. However, Stroll suffered another setback in Q1. The red flags were brought out after Nicholas Latifi collided with Stroll’s car. Ironically, the red flag period allowed extra time for Vettel to make an on-track appearance. A further red flag was called in Q3 as Fernando Alonso – who was on a fast lap – collided with the barriers.

The battle for pole was won by Charles Leclerc, who led the field into Turn 1 on Sunday. While it was plain sailing for Leclerc, team-mate Carlos Sainz had a difficult Saturday and qualified only ninth. The Spaniard was out on Lap 2 in the race, spinning out into the gravel. After a Safety Car period, there were further off track excursions for Vettel and Kevin Magnussen, though both were able to continue. 

Vettel then went off again on Lap 23 and this time he was less lucky, bringing out another Safety Car as he retired from the race. At the restart, Max Verstappen attempted an overtake on the leading Ferrari, but Leclerc just stayed ahead. Verstappen’s race ended on Lap 39 as he pulled over to the side of the track with a fuel leak. That left Leclerc free to take victory by over 20 seconds from Sergio Perez. 

Mercedes enjoyed a somewhat more competitive weekend than at the first two races of the year, with George Russell scoring his first podium result with the team and Lewis Hamilton finishing fourth. It was also a good weekend for McLaren – Lando Norris finished fifth, while home hero Daniel Ricciardo followed in sixth. 

Alex Albon was one of the stars of the race. Opting for an alternate strategy, the Williams driver stayed out on hard tyres until the penultimate lap of the race. The bold strategy call allowed Albon to pick up his, and the team’s, first point of the season.

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 at Albert Park 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.

For a second year in succession, Sebastian Vettel took victory for Ferrari at the season-opening Grand Prix after a pit stop blunder for Mercedes.

The Albert Park weekend got off to a bad start for home favourite Daniel Ricciardo, who received a three-place grid penalty for failing to slow down for a Red Flag during Friday Practice. It was a relatively easy run to pole for Lewis Hamilton, as his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas crashed out in Q3 and started way down the order as a result.

Hamilton maintained his lead at the start, despite a challenge from Kimi Raikkonen. Max Verstappen had a scrappy race and spun after ten laps, losing positions at a critical moment. Haas were having a great afternoon, running in fourth and fifth, until pit stop problems saw both cars retire with wheelnut issues. Their retirements prompted a Virtual Safety Car, which the yet-to-pit Sebastian Vettel used to his advantage and emerged from his pit stop ahead of Hamilton.

Despite his best attempts, Hamilton could do nothing to stop Vettel taking the victory. Bottas, after his qualifying crash, could only recover to eighth place in the Grand Prix as fellow Finn Raikkonen completed the podium finishers.