For the first time since 2019, Albert Park returns to the season-opening slot in 2025! The 2025 Australian Grand Prix is set to take place on March 16.
1126th F1 GRAND PRIX | 88th AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX | 28th GRAND PRIX AT ALBERT PARK
2024 POLESITTER: MAX VERSTAPPEN | 2024 WINNER: CARLOS SAINZ
2025 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Friday March 14
Free Practice 1 – 12:30pm Local Time / 1:30am UK Time
Free Practice 2 – 4pm Local Time / 5am UK Time
Saturday March 15
Free Practice 3 – 12:30pm Local Time / 1:30am UK Time
Qualifying – 4pm Local Time / 5am UK Time
Sunday March 16
The 2025 Australian Grand Prix – 3pm Local Time / 4am UK Time
2025 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX: WEEKEND MILESTONES
A pole position for Lewis Hamilton at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix would be his ninth at Albert Park, seeing him equal his own record for most pole positions at a single circuit. In 2023, Hamilton became the first driver to take nine poles at a single track with pole position at the Hungaroring.
Michael Schumacher holds the record for most Albert Park victories with four. His record cannot be equalled at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix but Lewis Hamilton could become the fourth driver to have won three Albert Park races, while Fernando Alonso, Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen or Carlos Sainz could become the eighth driver to record multiple Melbourne wins.
Mercedes and Ferrari are tied for most pole positions at Albert Park, with six apiece. Either team could set a new record at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix, while the existing record could be equalled by McLaren or Red Bull.
A podium finish for Oscar Piastri would see him become the first Australian driver to finish on the podium at the Australian Grand Prix in F1 history. Daniel Ricciardo stood on the podium in 2014 but was later disqualified from the final result.
READ MORE IN MILESTONES AND RECORDS TO BREAK
WHAT HAS CHANGED AT THE CIRCUIT SINCE LAST YEAR?
There have been a few minor changes at Albert Park since last year’s race. The kerb at Turns 6 and 7 has been replaced with a negative kerb and gravel has been installed, while the barrier on the left-hand side of Turn 6 has been reprofiled. In addition, the pit exit lane has been repainted and reconfigured to the layout last used in 2018.
HOW MANY DRS ZONES WILL THERE BE AT THE 2025 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX?
Like last year, there are four DRS activation zones and two detection points at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE 2025 AUSTRLIAN GRAND PRIX
ALBERT PARK TRACK GUIDE
Albert Park, located just a few miles south of central Melbourne, is the venue of the now traditional season opening Australian Grand Prix. The temporary street circuit sees the cars tear through the park, just inches from the surrounding walls.
The Australian Grand Prix was an event for many years before it became a part of the F1 World Championship. This event moved around tracks in Australia on a yearly basis. One non-championship Grand Prix with F1 machinery was held at Albert Park in 1956, albeit on a very different track to the current layout. The 1956 event was won by Stirling Moss, driving for Maserati. The Australian Grand Prix became a fixture on the F1 calendar in 1985, at Adelaide. The race was run successfully there for eleven seasons.
In 1993, negotiations began to bring the Australian Grand Prix to Melbourne and, after two years of preparations, Formula One took to the streets of a rebuilt Albert Park circuit for the first time for the first race of the 1996 season, much to the dismay of the ‘Save Albert Park’ group. The building of the circuit, even though temporary, required trees to be cut down and some facilities to be removed from the park.
The deal was struck mostly thanks to Ron Walker, an Australian business man who held negotiations with Bernie Ecclestone. Following Walker’s death in January 2018, the main straight on the track was renamed the ‘Walker Straight’ in honour of the man who helped to bring the event to the city.
READ MORE IN OUR ULTIMATE TRACK GUIDE
WHO WILL BE IN THE 2025 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX PRESS CONFERENCES?
The world’s media will have the opportunity to talk to the drivers ahead of the on-track action. The drivers appearing in the press conference for this race are:
Jack Doohan (Alpine)
Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
Carlos Sainz (Williams)
The media will also be talking to prominent members of Formula 1’s teams in a separate press conference over the race weekend. The team members appearing in the press conference are:
Andy Cowell (Aston Martin)
Fred Vasseur (Ferrari)
James Vowles (Williams)
WHO WILL BE THE RACE DIRECTOR AT THE 2025 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX?
Rui Marques will be the race director at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix.
WHO WILL BE THE DRIVER STEWARD AT THE 2025 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX?
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 is Enrique Bernoldi.
WHICH TYRE COMPOUNDS WILL BE USED AT THE 2025 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX?
Pirelli have announced that the C3, C4 and C5 tyre compounds will be used at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix. The C2, C3 and C4 compounds were used in 2024.
WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME AT THE AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX?
Sainz became the first driver other than Verstappen to bring home a win in the 2024 season at the Australian Grand Prix.
The Williams team stole the headlines on the opening day of the 2024 Australian Grand Prix. A heavy crash for Alex Albon wrote off his Williams car and with the team having no spare chassis, Logan Sargeant was forced to hand his car over to his team-mate for the remainder of the weekend.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fastest in the final two practice sessions but it was Max Verstappen who secured a third pole position in the first three races of the 2024 season. It was Leclerc’s Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz – returning to the cockpit after appendix surgery – who secured a front row starting slot alongside the Red Bull.
Verstappen held the lead at the start of Sunday’s Grand Prix but Sainz stole the lead on the second lap. By Lap 4, smoke was emitting from the rear of Verstappen’s car. He subsequently recorded his first retirement in two years, ending a nine-race winning streak. On Lap 17, Lewis Hamilton joined Verstappen on the sidelines with an engine failure.
Hamilton’s trackside stoppage led to a Virtual Safety Car period, prompting a well-timed pit stop for Fernando Alonso. Out front, Sainz led from team-mate Leclerc, with the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris following in third and fourth. The remaining Red Bull of Sergio Perez began to make progress, passing both George Russell and Alonso within a few laps to run fifth.
On Lap 29. Piastri pulled aside to let team-mate Norris – on fresher tyres – through. Later in the race, the Australian battled by Alonso to secure a fourth place finish; equalling the best result for an Australian on home soil in F1.
On the final lap, George Russell crashed out while in pursuit of Alonso’s Aston Martin. With his stricken car left in the middle of the track, the race ended under Virtual Safety Car conditions. Sainz led home a Ferrari 1-2, with Norris completing the podium.
WHAT’S THE FASTEST EVER LAP AT THE AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX?
Attending the 2025 Australian Grand Prix? Learn more about visiting Albert Park in the F1Destinations Travel Guide.