F1 Team Form: Australian Grand Prix

Red Bull took their first Australian Grand Prix win in 12 years in 2023, Mercedes took pole at every Albert Park race between 2014 and 2019 and Ferrari have won three of the last five Melbourne races. Here’s everything you need to know about each team’s history at Albert Park!

RED BULL

WINS: 2, POLES: 4, PODIUMS: 6 | 2023 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX RESULT: VERSTAPPEN 1st, PEREZ 5th

Max Verstappen finally ended Red Bull’s 12-year wait for an Australian Grand Prix victory in 2023. Sebastian Vettel’s win at Albert Park in 2011 is Red Bull’s only other Melbourne victory.

Until 2019, Vettel was the only Red Bull driver to have scored podium finishes for Red Bull at the Albert Park circuit, with his 2011 win, second place in 2012 and third in 2013. Max Verstappen recorded Red Bull’s first podium at the circuit in six years in 2019, with a third place finish, while Sergio Perez bettered that result with second place in 2022.

Daniel Ricciardo had finished second on track for the team in 2014, but was later disqualified. As a result of that disqualification, 2014 is one of only two times when neither Red Bull was classified in the final result – the other time being in 2008.

2014 is Red Bull’s only point-less Melbourne visit from the last 12 Albert Park races. That being said, in both 2019 and 2022, one driver has finished on the podium while the other has failed to finish. 2023 marked Red Bull’s first double top five result in Australia since 2012.

Red Bull team pit stop practice at the 2020 Australian Grand Prix. Image © Andrew Balfour.
Image © Andrew Balfour

Red Bull have taken four pole positions at Albert Park. The first three were all courtesy of Sebastian Vettel, in 2010, 2011 and 2013. Max Verstappen added a fourth to the collection at the 2023 Australian Grand Prix.

Red Bull have locked out the front row twice, in 2010 and 2013. In 2022, both of the team’s drivers qualified in the top three for the first time since 2013. Max Verstappen’s second place in 2022 was the team’s first front row qualification at Albert Park since Daniel Ricciardo made the front row on his Red Bull debut in 2014.

From the past 13 races at the circuit, there have been only five occasions on which a Red Bull driver has failed to reach the final part of qualifying at the Australian Grand Prix. Vettel and Daniil Kvyat were eliminated in Q2 in 2014 and 2015 respectively, while Kvyat and Pierre Gasly were out in Q1 in 2016 and 2019.

Sergio Perez failed to set a lap time in qualifying in 2023, subsequently recording the team’s worst ever Saturday result at the track with 20th.

MERCEDES

WINS: 4, POLES: 6, PODIUMS: 12 | 2023 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX RESULT: HAMILTON 2nd, RUSSELL DNF

Mercedes took three consecutive Australian Grand Prix wins in 2014, 2015 and 2016, and won their fourth Australian Grand Prix in 2019. The team has recorded at least one podium result in every Albert Park race to date in the V6 hybrid era.

2023 was the first time since 2014 that Mercedes recorded a retirement in Australia. Both times – for George Russell in 2023 and Lewis Hamilton in 2014 – it was power unit issues that ended their races early. Those two occasions aside, eighth and fourth place finished in 2018 and 2022 respectively are Mercedes’ only other non-podium results in Melbourne since 2014.

Mercedes have recorded just one double DNF here, in 2011, while 2012 is the only other year in which they’ve failed to pick up a point at Albert Park.

Mercedes have started from pole six times at the Australian Grand Prix – all six times coming consecutively between 2014 and 2019, all courtesy of Lewis Hamilton. The team also locked out the front row in 2015, 2016 and 2019.

Their fifth and sixth places in 2022 marked the first time since 2011 that neither Mercedes driver qualified in the top four at the Australian Grand Prix. George Russell retuned the team to the front row in 2023 – and subsequently took the lead at Turn 1.

Michael Schumacher’s Q2 elimination here in 2011 is the only time a Mercedes car has failed to reach Q3 since the team re-entered F1 in 2010 – though Valtteri Bottas was unable to set a lap time during Q3 in 2018 after crashing out.

FERRARI

WINS: 9, POLES: 6, PODIUMS: 20 | 2023 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX RESULT: SAINZ 12th, LECLERC DNF

Ferrari have won three of the last five Australian Grands Prix, with Charles Leclerc securing the team’s most recent Albert Park win in 2022. Since 2015, 2019 and 2023 are the only times that neither Ferrari driver finished on the podium at Australian Grand Prix.

The 2023 Australian Grand Prix was a weekend to forget for the Scuderia. Leclerc was out of the race after just three corners, while Carlos Sainz crossed the line in fourth place but plummeted to 12th in the final result after a post-race time penalty. It was the team’s first point-less visit to Albert Park since 2009.

With nine wins in total, Ferrari have taken more victories at Albert Park than any other team. With there being just three occasion in the 26 Albert Park races where the team have failed to pick up a point (2006, 2009 and 2023), it’s perhaps no surprise that Ferrari are the most prolific points scorers in Melbourne.

Sebastian Vettel at the 2020 Australian Grand Prix. Image © Andrew Balfour.
Image © Andrew Balfour

In 2022, Charles Leclerc secured Ferrari’s first pole at the Australian Grand Prix since 2007. It was the team’s sixth pole in total at the circuit. For four seasons between 2001 and 2004, Ferrari locked out the front row. Since then however, there have been just four occasions on which a Ferrari car has qualified on the front row.

2005, 2006 and 2012 are the only years in which neither Ferrari car has qualified in the top in Melbourne. Since the knockout system was introduced in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2014 are the only years where just one Ferrari has reached Q3.

Since 2013, 2014 and 2023 are the only occasions on which neither Ferrari driver has qualified on the front row of the grid.

McLAREN

WINS: 6, POLES: 5, PODIUMS: 18 | 2023 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX RESULT: NORRIS 6th, PAISTRI 8th

McLaren last finished on the Australian Grand Prix podium in 2014, when Kevin Magnussen finished an impressive second on début and Jenson Button was bumped up to third in the final result.

The team enjoyed their best result since then in 2022, with both Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo finishing in the top six. Having failed to score points at the track in four of the five races between 2015 and 2019, McLaren’s Melbourne fortunes appear to have turned a corner. Both drivers scored again in 2023 with Norris sixth and Oscar Piastri recording the first points of his career on home soil in eighth place.

McLaren’s impressive tally of 18 podiums at the track leaves them behind only Ferrari’s total, while the team are also second in the all-time win list in Melbourne, having taken six victories. Button remains McLaren’s most recent winner at the circuit, having won for the team in both 2010 and 2012.

The 1998 Australian Grand Prix marks the team’s only 1-2 finish at Albert Park, though they’ve also had 1-3 finishes in 1997, 2003 and 2012.

The team have recorded double non-finishes in three years here, in 1999, 2000 and most recently in 2009, when Heikki Kovalainen failed to finish and Lewis Hamilton was disqualified.

McLaren have taken five poles at Albert Park, most recently in 2012, and have locked-out the front row on four occasions. Since their last front-row lockout in 2012, however, there have been only four years in which a McLaren driver has reached Q3 at the Australian Grand Prix. 2022 was the first time since 2012 that both drivers reached the final part of qualifying in Melbourne.

2015 was a particularly low point – 17th and 18th places in qualifying marked the team’s only double Q1 elimination in Australia.

ASTON MARTIN

WINS: 0, POLES: 0, PODIUMS: 2* | 2023 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX RESULT: ALONSO 3rd, STROLL 4th

With third place for Aston Martin at the 2023 Australian Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso recorded the Silverstone-based team’s first podium result at Albert Park since Heinz-Harald Frentzen finished as runner-up for Jordan in 1999.

The Silverstone team has been present in one for or another in every running of the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park. Aside from their two aforementioned podiums, the team has had a further two top five finishes: fifth for Frentzen in 2001 and fourth for Lance Stroll in 2023.

The team are frequent points scorers in Australia, having scored in all but two of the 12 Albert Park races since 2010, the exceptions being 2018 and 2022.

Between 1996 and 2012, there were only three occasions on which both of Team Silverstone’s cars reached the chequered flag. Their finishing rate has been much stronger sine then, with just two DNFs since 2013.

The Silverstone team has a low Q3 appearance rate at the Australian Grand Prix. From their last 38 entries, they have qualified in the top ten only nine times. Two of those were in 2023, when Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll qualified fourth and sixth respectively in the team’s first double Q3 appearance since 2016.

Since 2021, 2016 and 2019 are the only occasions that the team has recorded a double top ten qualification. Both drivers were out in Q1 in 2022 – the team’s first double Q1 elimination at the track since 2009.

ALPINE

WINS: 3*, POLES: 1*, PODIUMS: 7* | 2023 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX RESULT: GASLY DNF, OCON DNF

The Enstone team has not finished above seventh place at the Australian Grand Prix since Kimi Raikkonen took victory at the venue in 2013. One of the team’s drivers has finished seventh in all three Albert Park races between 2019 and 2022.

The team’s points-scoring streak in Melbourne came to an end in 2023, when Alpine drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly collided with one another. It was the team’s first double DNF in Australia since 2015.

Raikkonen’s 2013 victory, when the team was under its Lotus guise, was the Enstone team’s third Australian Grand Prix win in total. Renault won the Australian Grand Prix in their championship-winning seasons of 2005 and 2006.

Their 2013 win was followed by a four year pointless streak at the track, including double DNFs in both 2014 and 2015.In 2018, Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz made it the first – and only – occasion since 2013 that both of Team Enstone’s drivers picked up points at Albert Park.

2020 Australian Grand Prix. Image © Andrew Balfour.
Image © Andrew Balfour

Giancarlo Fisichella took the Enstone team’s only pole at Albert Park, under its Renault guise, in 2005. He also secured the team’s only other front row start the following year.

In the last 15 races at the circuit, there have been only four occasions on which both of the team’s drivers reached Q3. Romain Grosjean’s third place in 2012 marks the last time that the team qualified in the top six here.

WILLIAMS

WINS: 1, POLES: 2, PODIUMS: 8 | 2023 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX RESULT: SARGEANT DNF, ALBON DNF

Williams were the first ever winners at the Albert Park circuit in the modern era of Formula 1, as Damon Hill took victory at the 1996 event. It’s the only time so far that the team have taken a win in Melbourne.

The 1996 race weekend is also memorable for Jacques Villeneuve’s debut with the team, in which he took pole and led the majority of the race. The Canadian once again took pole in the following season for Williams, marking their second, and so far final, front row lock-out at Albert Park.

In total, Williams have taken eight podium finishes at this circuit, their most recent being Nico Rosberg’s third place in 2008. The team has recorded four double DNFs here (recording their first since 2011 in 2023) and there have been nine races at the track in which they’ve failed to score.

Alex Albon picked up a point for the team in 2022, finishing tenth with the effective use of an alternate strategy. It’s the only point the team has scored at the track since 2018.

After a four year streak of Q3 appearances at the Australian Grand Prix, Williams failed to qualify in the top ten between 2018 and 2022. Alex Albon returned the team to Q3 in 2023, qualifying eighth.

2019 marked the first time that both Williams cars were eliminated in Q1 at the Albert Park circuit, while both Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi were out in Q1 in 2022.

Double Q3 appearances for the team at Albert Park have been rare, with both cars reaching the final part of qualifying in only 2014 and 2015. That being said, until 2019, the team had only three Q1 exits at the track – Pastor Maldonado in 2013, Lance Stroll in 2017 and Sergey Sirotkin in 2018.

From the past 16 races at Albert Park, the team have qualified in the top four only once, with Felipe Massa qualifying third in 2015.

VISA CASH APP RB

WINS: 0, POLES: 0, PODIUMS: 0 | 2023 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX RESULT: TSUNODA 10th, DE VRIES DNF

The Red Bull junior team has picked up points in all but one of the last eight Australian Grands Prix. Toro Rosso’s best result at the Australian Grand Prix is seventh, which Sebastien Bourdais and Sebastien Buemi both achieved in 2008 and 2009 respectively. The team have a healthy finish rate at the event, and there is yet to be an Australian Grand Prix at which both cars have failed to finish.

There have been four occasions on which both cars have scored points in Melbourne, including three times in the past eight races at Albert Park – but not since 2017. There have been only five seasons in which the team have failed to score at the circuit, most recently in 2018.

Max Verstappen’s fifth on the grid for Toro Rosso in 2015 is the team’s best qualifying result so far at this circuit. The team have reached Q3 with both cars three times, in 2014, 2016 and 2017, the latter being the last time that either of their cars has reached the final part of qualifying at Albert Park.

In 2018, Toro Rosso recorded their first double Q1 exit in Melbourne since 2009. 2007 is the only other year that both cars were eliminated in the first part of qualifying. In all of the last three Albert Park races, both drivers were eliminated in Q2.

SAUBER

WINS: 0, POLES: 0, PODIUMS: 1* | 2023 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX RESULT: ZHOU 9th, BOTTAS 11th

The team formerly known as Sauber scored their only podium finish at the Australian Grand Prix in 2008, when Nick Heidfeld finished as runner-up. After failing to score in all but one year between 2013 and 2018, the team has scored in all of the last three Melbourne races. Kimi Raikkonen finished eighth in 2019, Valtteri Bottas finished eighth in 2022 and Zhou Guanyu finished ninth in 2023.

The team saw one of their drivers retire from the race in 2016, 2017 and 2018 and has one of the highest non-finish rates at the circuit overall of any current team. Aside from 2015, when both Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson finished the race in the top eight, 2001, 2006 and 2012 are the only other occasions on which both Sauber drivers scored in the race here. Both drivers finished in the top ten in 2011 but were disqualified after the event for technical infringements.

The best qualifying result for a Sauber car in Melbourne is second on the grid, again achieved by Nick Heidfeld in 2008. Kimi Raikkonen finally ended a seven-year drought of no Q3 appearances for the team by qualifying ninth in 2019. With Antonio Giovinazzi being eliminated in Q2, it was the first season since 2012 that neither of the team’s drivers had a Q1 exit at the Australian Grand Prix.

2008 is the last time both of their cars reached Q3, while both drivers were out in Q1 for three successive years between 2016 and 2018. The team recorded another double Q1 elimination in 2023.

HAAS

WINS: 0, POLES: 0, PODIUMS: 0 | 2023 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX RESULT: HULKENBERG 7th, MAGNUSSEN DNF

2022 marked the first time that both Haas drivers reached the chequered flag in a race at Albert Park. Before that, the team had recorded only two finishes from eight entries. Both of those finishes were sixth places, for Romain Grosjean on the team’s debut in 2016, and for Kevin Magnussen in 2019. Nico Hulkenberg picked up more points for the team in the 2023 Australian Grand Prix, finishing in seventh place.

Haas have been unlucky in the past at the Australian Grand Prix. Most notably, Grosjean and Magnussen were running in fourth and fifth in 2018 when they retired following wheelnut issues in their pit stops. That was their second consecutive double DNF at the circuit.

At all three Australian Grand Prix weekends between 2017 and 2019, Romain Grosjean qualified in sixth place with Haas. He started within the top five in 2018 thanks to Daniel Ricciardo’s grid penalty.

Kevin Magnussen qualified seventh in both 2018 and 2019, making those seasons the only ones that Haas have reached Q3 with both cars at Albert Park. The team suffered a double Q1 elimination in 2016, and Magnussen was eliminated in Q1 in 2017.

In 2022, Mick Schumacher reached Q2, while Magnussen was eliminated in Q1. In 2023, Nico Hulkenberg secured Haas’ first Q3 appearance at Albert Park since 2019, qualifying tenth.

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