Australian Grand Prix

The Australian Grand Prix is a Formula One race held at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit in Albert Park as part of the annual Formula One championship season.

Australian Grands Prix, not part of the World Championship but featuring F1 open-wheeler racing vehicles, were held at various circuits around Australia for many years. A notable venue in the 1950's was a road circuit at Albert Park in Melbourne, for many years. They sometimes attracted the world's top drivers of the era, who competed against (and were challenged by) local entrants. The last such race was held in 1984.

Australia became part of the F1 world championship in 1985 with the last race of the season held on a street circuit in Adelaide. The circuit, whilst not as ridiculously tight as Monaco, was notoriously tough on drivers and gearboxes. The most famous race there was undoubtedly the 1986 event, where Nigel Mansell, and Nelson Piquet in a Williams, and Alain Prost in a comparatively underpowered McLaren were still competing for the title. Mansell needed only third to guarantee the title, whilst Prost and Piquet needed to win and for Mansell to finish lower than third to take the title. Whilst leading comfortably with a few laps to go, Mansell's Williams suffered a spectacular mechanical failure, with a rear tyre puncture at very high speed near the end of the main straight creating a huge shower of sparks as the floor of the vehicle dragged along the bitumen surface. Mansell fought to control the violently veering car and steered it to a safe stop. Prost took the lead and won the race and the championship. Prost himself came incredibly close to failure, as his vehicle coasted to a halt on his warm-down lap, out of fuel.

In 1996, after the government of Jeff Kennett spent an undisclosed (but speculated to be quite large) amount, the race was shifted to a rebuilt Albert Park street circuit in Melbourne. The decision to hold the race there was controversial. A series of protests were organised by the "Save Albert Park" group, who claimed that the race turned a public park into a private playground for much of the year. Additionally, they claimed that the race cost a great deal of money that would be better spent, if it was to be spent on motor racing, on a permanent circuit elsewhere. Finally, they claimed that the economic benefits of the race claimed by its backers were false or exaggerated. The race organisers and the government claimed that the economic benefits to the state outweighed the costs, and that the park's public amenities have been improved considerably by the works carried out for the race. The idea of a permanent racing circuit has never really been addressed, but there is much speculation that the real reason for a street circuit is to provide a distinctive backdrop for television - a permanent race circuit would be unidentifiable and, from the perspective of the Formula One organisers, may as well be held in Europe at much lesser cost and inconvenience to them.

In any case, a substantial number of people do embrace (and attend) the race at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit.

The race was struck by tragedy in 2001, when a flying tyre from a crash between Ralf Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve flew through a gap in the barrier fence and killed a volunteer track marshal.

The 2002 event saw the best performance by an Australian driver when Mark Webber, in the perennially uncompetitive Minardi, took advantage of the misfortune of other competitors to finish an unlikely fifth, holding off a fast-closing Mika Salo in a much faster Toyota. He and the Australian-born team owner Paul Stoddart became instant national celebrities well beyond the motor racing world, the minor placing receiving far more attention in Australia than Michael Schumacher's win.

Michael Schumacher won the event again on 7 March 2004 ahead of his teammate Rubens Barrichello, foreshadowing a season dominated by Ferrari.

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Winners of the Australian Grands Prix

Year	Driver	Constructor	Location	Report
1927	G. Meredith	Bugatti	Goulburn	Report
1928	A. Waite	Austin	Phillip Island	Report
1929	A. Terdich	Bugatti	Phillip Island	Report
1930	B. Thompson	Bugatti	Phillip Island	Report
1931	C. Junker	Bugatti	Phillip Island	Report
1932	B. Thompson	Bugatti	Phillip Island	Report
1933	B. Thompson	Riley Brooklands	Phillip Island	Report
1934	B. Lea-Wright	Singer Le Mans	Phillip Island	Report
1935	L. Murphy	MG	Phillip Island	Report
1937	L. Murphy	MG	Victor Harbor	Report
1938	P. Whitehead	ERA	Bathurst	Report
1939	A. G. Tomlinson	MG	Lobethal	Report
1947	B. Murray	MG	Bathurst	Report
1948	F. Pratt	BMW	Point Cook	Report
1949	J. Crouch	Delahaye	Leyburn	Report
1950	D. Whiteford	Ford	Nurioopta	Report
1951	W. Pratley	George Reed	Narrogin	Report
1952	D. Whiteford	Talbot	Bathurst	Report
1953	D. Whiteford	Talbot	Albert Park	Report
1954	L. Davison	HWM	Southport	Report
1955	Jack Brabham (Australia)	Cooper	Port Wakefield	Report
1956	Stirling Moss (United Kingdom)	Maserati	Albert Park	Report
1957	L. Davison / B. Patterson	Ferrari	Caversham	Report
1958	L. Davison	Ferrari	Bathurst	Report
1959	S. Jones	Maserati	Longford	Report
1960	A. Mildren	Cooper-Maserati	Lowood	Report
1961	L. Davison	Cooper-Climax	Mallala	Report
1962	Bruce McLaren (New Zealand)	Cooper-Climax	Caversham	Report
1963	Jack Brabham (Australia)	Brabham-Climax	Warwick Farm	Report
1964	Jack Brabham (Australia)	Brabham-Climax	Sandown Park	Report
1965	Bruce McLaren (New Zealand)	Cooper-Climax	Longford	Report
1966	Graham Hill (United Kingdom)	British Racing Motors	Lakeside	Report
1967	Jackie Stewart (United Kingdom)	British Racing Motors	Warwick Farm	Report
1968	Jim Clark (United Kingdom)	Lotus-Cosworth	Sandown Park	Report
1969	Chris Amon (New Zealand)	Ferrari	Lakeside	Report
1970	Frank Matich (Australia)	McLaren-Repco	Warwick Farm	Report
1971	Frank Matich (Australia)	McLaren-Repco	Warwick Farm	Report
1972	Graham McRae (New Zealand)	Leda-Chevrolet	Sandown Park	Report
1973	Graham McRae (New Zealand)	McRae-Chevrolet	Sandown Park	Report
1974	Max Stewart (Australia)	Lola-Chevrolet	Oran Park	Report
1975	Max Stewart (Australia)	Lola-Chevrolet	Surfers Paradise	Report
1976	John Goss (Australia)	Matich-Repco	Sandown Park	Report
1977	Warwick Brown (Australia)	Lola-Chevrolet	Oran Park	Report
1978	Graham McRae (New Zealand)	McRae-Chevrolet	Sandown Park	Report
1979	Johnnie Walker (Australia)	Lola-Chevrolet	Wanneroo	Report
1980	Alan Jones (Australia)	Lola-Chevrolet	Calder	Report
1981	Roberto Moreno (Brazil)	Ralt-Cosworth	Calder	Report
1982	Alain Prost (France)	Ralt-Cosworth	Calder	Report
1983	Roberto Moreno (Brazil)	Ralt-Cosworth	Calder	Report
1984	Roberto Moreno (Brazil)	Ralt-Cosworth	Calder	Report
1985	Keke Rosberg (Finland)	Williams-Honda	Adelaide	Report
1986	Alain Prost (France)	McLaren-TAG	Adelaide	Report
1987	Gerhard Berger (Austria)	Ferrari	Adelaide	Report
1988	Alain Prost (France)	McLaren-Honda	Adelaide	Report
1989	Thierry Boutsen (Belgium)	Williams-Renault	Adelaide	Report
1990	Nelson Piquet (Brazil)	Benetton-Ford	Adelaide	Report
1991	Ayrton Senna (Brazil)	McLaren-Honda	Adelaide	Report
1992	Gerhard Berger (Austria)	McLaren-Honda	Adelaide	Report
1993	Ayrton Senna (Brazil)	McLaren-Ford	Adelaide	Report
1994	Nigel Mansell (United Kingdom)	Williams-Renault	Adelaide	Report
1995	Damon Hill (United Kingdom)	Williams-Renault	Adelaide	Report
1996	Damon Hill (United Kingdom)	Williams-Renault	Melbourne	Report
1997	David Coulthard (United Kingdom)	McLaren-Mercedes	Melbourne	Report
1998	Mika Häkkinen (Finland)	McLaren-Mercedes	Melbourne	Report
1999	Eddie Irvine (United Kingdom)	Ferrari	Melbourne	Report
2000	Michael Schumacher (Germany)	Ferrari	Melbourne	Report
2001	Michael Schumacher (Germany)	Ferrari	Melbourne	Report
2002	Michael Schumacher (Germany)	Ferrari	Melbourne	Report
2003	David Coulthard (United Kingdom)	McLaren-Mercedes	Melbourne	Report
2004	Michael Schumacher (Germany)	Ferrari	Melbourne	Report

Races in the Formula One championship:

Current championship Grand Prix events:

Past championship Grand Prix events:


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