G'day F1 fans! It's that time of the year where the race is down under and our sleep schedules are wrecked.
This week in Melbourne will be extra special for the McLaren rookie, Oscar Piastri, as it's his first home race in F1.
This post will be updated regularly over the weekend.
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Australia Schedule (BST)
Friday 31st March 2023:
Free Practice 1: 02:30-03:30
Free Practice 2: 06:00-07:00
Saturday 1st April 2023:
Free Practice 3: 02:30-03:30
Qualifying: 06:00-07:00
Sunday 2nd April:
The Race: 06:00
About The Track
The Albert Park Circuit was built in 1993, with the first race in Melbourne being held in 1996.
The circuit has 2 DRS zones.
The race will have 58 laps of the 5.278km circuit.
The lap record was set by Charles Leclerc in 2022 at 1:20.260.
Free Practice Updates
Free Practice 1 -
Times By Teams:
Alfa Romeo
Valtteri Bottas: P18. 1:20.419. Completed 21 laps.
Zhou Guanyu: P19. 1:20.596. Completed 22 laps.
AlphaTauri
Yuki Tsunoda: P17. 1:20.399. Completed 14 laps.
Nyck De Vries: P14. 1:19.933. Completed 25 laps.
Alpine
Esteban Ocon: P16. 1:20.175. Completed 20 laps.
Pierre Gasly: P8. 1:19.646. Completed 22 laps.
Aston Martin
Fernando Alonso: P4. 1:19.317. Completed 23 laps.
Lance Stroll: P10. 1:19.766. Completed 19 laps.
Ferrari
Carlos Sainz: P6. 1:19.505. Completed 20 laps.
Charles Leclerc: P5. 1:19.378. Completed 16 laps.
Haas
Kevin Magnussen: P20. 1:21.147. Completed 17 laps.
Nico Hulkenberg: P13. 1:19.806. Completed 19 laps.
McLaren
Lando Norris: P7. 1:19.536. Completed 16 laps.
Oscar Piastri: P12. 1:19.777. Completed 22 laps.
Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton: P2. 1:19.223. Completed 20 laps.
George Russell: P9. 1:19.699. Completed 23 laps.
Red Bull
Max Verstappen: P1. 1:18.790. Completed 17 laps.
Sergio Perez: P3. 1:19.293. Completed 19 laps.
Williams
Alex Albon: P11. 1:19.766. Completed 21 laps.
Logan Sargeant: P15. 1:20.074. Completed 21 laps.
Overall Rankings for FP1:
Position | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:18.790 |
2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +0.433 |
3 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | +0.503 |
4 | Fernando Alonso | Aston MArtin | +0.527 |
5 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.588 |
6 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | +0.715 |
7 | Lando Norris | McLaren | +0.746 |
8 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | +0.856 |
9 | George Russell | Mercedes | +0.909 |
10 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +0.976 |
11 | Alex Albon | Williams | +0.976 |
12 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +0.987 |
13 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | +1.016 |
14 | Nyck De Vries | AlphaTauri | +1.143 |
15 | Logan Sargeant | Will | +1.284 |
16 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | +1.385 |
17 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | +1.609 |
18 | Valtteri Bottas | Afla Romeo | +1.629 |
19 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | +1.779 |
20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | +2.357 |
Free Practice 2 -
Times By Teams:
Alfa Romeo
Valtteri Bottas: P12. 1:20.312. Completed 22 laps.
Zhou Guanyu: P15. 1:20.470. Completed 22 laps.
AlphaTauri
Yuki Tsunoda: P11. 1:20.206. Completed 18 laps.
Nyck De Vries: P17. 1:20.579. Completed 8 laps.
Alpine
Esteban Ocon: P6. 1:19.725. Completed 12 laps.
Pierre Gasly: P10. 1:20.206. Completed 12 laps.
Aston Martin
Fernando Alonso: P1. 1:18.887. Completed 13 laps.
Lance Stroll: P16. 1:20.579. Completed 15 laps.
Ferrari
Carlos Sainz: P5. 1:19.695. Completed 12 laps.
Charles Leclerc: P2. 1:19.332. Completed 10 laps.
Haas
Kevin Magnussen: P19. 1:21.266. Completed 18 laps.
Nico Hulkenberg: P9. 1:20.194. Completed 19 laps.
McLaren
Lando Norris: P8. 1:20.176. Completed 20 laps.
Oscar Piastri: P14. 1:20.380. Completed 24 laps.
Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton: P13. 1:20.323. Completed 17 laps.
George Russell: P4. 1:19.672. Completed 20 laps.
Red Bull
Max Verstappen: P3. 1:19.502. Completed 12 laps.
Sergio Perez: P7. 1:20.083. Completed 15 laps.
Williams
Alex Albon: 1:21.182. Completed 18 laps.
Logan Sargeant: No time set. The car has a suspected electrical issue which prevented Sargeant from going on the track.
Overall Rankings for FP2:
Position | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:18.887 |
2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.445 |
3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +0.615 |
4 | George Russell | Mercedes | +0.785 |
5 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | +0.808 |
6 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | +0.838 |
7 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | +1.196 |
8 | Lando Norris | McLaren | +1.289 |
9 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | +1.307 |
10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | +1.319 |
11 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | +1.333 |
12 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | +1.425 |
13 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +1.436 |
14 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +1.493 |
15 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | +1.583 |
16 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +1.692 |
17 | Nyck De Vries | AlphaTauri | +1.713 |
18 | Alex Albon | Williams | +2.295 |
19 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | +2.379 |
Free Practice 3 -
Times By Teams:
Alfa Romeo
Valtteri Bottas: P15. 1:18.809. Completed 24 laps.
Zhou Guanyu: P10. 1:18.330. Completed 20 laps.
AlphaTauri
Yuki Tsunoda: P16. 1:18.901. Completed 22 laps.
Nyck De Vries: P19. 1:19.092. Completed 23 laps.
Alpine
Esteban Ocon: P3. 1:17.938. Completed 23 laps.
Pierre Gasly: P5. 1:18.094. Completed 23 laps.
Aston Martin
Fernando Alonso: P2. 1:17.727. Completed 26 laps.
Lance Stroll: P9. 1:18.198. Completed 22 laps.
Ferrari
Carlos Sainz: P7. 1:18.127. Completed 29 laps.
Charles Leclerc: P13. 1:18.691. Completed 28 laps.
Haas
Kevin Magnussen: P18. 1:19.056. Completed 26 laps.
Nico Hulkenberg: P11. 1:18.410. Completed 24 laps.
McLaren
Lando Norris: P20. 1:19.146. Completed 12 laps.
Oscar Piastri: P14. 1:18.713. Completed 21 laps.
Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton: P8. 1:18.138. Completed 25 laps.
George Russell: P4. 1:17.955. Completed 23 laps.
Red Bull
Max Verstappen: P1. 1:17.565. Completed 24 laps.
Sergio Perez: P6. 1:18.123. Completed 18 laps.
Williams
Alex Albon: P12. 1:18.553. Completed 21 laps.
Logan Sargeant: P17. 1:18.947. Completed 20 laps.
Overall Rankings of FP3:
Position | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:17.565 |
2 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | +0.162 |
3 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | +0.373 |
4 | George Russell | Mercedes | +0.390 |
5 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | +0.529 |
6 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | +0.558 |
7 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | +0.562 |
8 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +0.573 |
9 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +0.633 |
10 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | +0.765 |
11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | +0.845 |
12 | Alex Ablon | Williams | +0.988 |
13 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +1.126 |
14 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +1.148 |
15 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | +1.244 |
16 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | +1.336 |
17 | Logan Sargeant | Willliams | +1.382 |
18 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | +1.491 |
19 | Nyck De Vries | AlphaTauri | +1.527 |
20 | Lando Norris | McLaren | +1.581 |
Qualifying Updates
Eliminated in Q1 -
Sergio Perez
Valtteri Bottas
Logan Sargeant
Zhou Guanyu
Oscar Piastri
Eliminated in Q2 -
Esteban Ocon
Yuki Tsunoda
Lando Norris
Kevin Magnussen
Nyck De Vries
Through to Q3 -
Nico Hulkenberg
Max Verstappen
Pierre Gasly
George Russell
Alex Albon
Lewis Hamilton
Charles Leclerc
Fernando Alonso
Lance Stroll
Carlos Sainz
OVERALL RESULT OF QUALIFYING:
*this does not take into account any penalties, final starting grid can be found under 'The Race' section*
The time listed shows the driver's fastest qualifying lap for their respective final qualifying sessions. Blue is for Q3, red is for Q2, and no background colour is Q1. For the driver's times for Q1, Q2, Q3, see below in 'Qualifying Results by Team'.
Position | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:16.732 |
2 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:16.968 |
3 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:17.104 |
4 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:17.139 |
5 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:17.270 |
6 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:17.308 |
7 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:17.369 |
8 | Alex Albon | Williams | 1:17.609 |
9 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:17.675 |
10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 1:17.735 |
11 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 1:17.768 |
12 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 1:18.099 |
13 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:18.119 |
14 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:18.129 |
15 | Nyck De Vries | AlphaTauri | 1:28.335 |
16 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:18.517 |
17 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | 1:18.540 |
18 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 1:18.557 |
19 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 1:18.714 |
20 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | DNF |
Times By Teams -
Alfa Romeo
Valtteri Bottas: P19. Q1 = 1:18.714.
Zhou Guanyu: P17. Q1 = 1:18.540.
AlphaTauri
Yuki Tsunoda: P12. Q1 = 1:18.471. Q2 = 1:18.099.
Nyck De Vries: P15. Q1 = 1:18.450. Q2 = 1:18.335.
Alpine
Esteban Ocon: P11. Q1 = 1:17.770. Q2 = 1:17.768.
Pierre Gasly: P9. Q1 = 1:18.312. Q2 = 1:17.574. Q3 = 1:17.675.
Aston Martin
Fernando Alonso: P4. Q1 = 1:17.832. Q2 = 1:17.283. Q3 = 1:17.139.
Lance Stroll: P6. Q1 = 1:17.873. Q2 = 1:17.616. Q3 = 1:17.308.
Ferrari
Carlos Sainz: P5. Q1 = 1:17.928. Q2 = 1:17.349. Q3 = 1:17.270.
Charles Leclerc: P7. Q1 = 1:18.218. Q2 = 1:17.390. Q3 = 1:17.369.
Haas
Kevin Magnussen: P14. Q1 = 1:18.159. Q2 = 1:18.129.
Nico Hulkenberg: P10. Q1 =1:18.029. Q2 = 1:17.412. Q3 = 1:17.735.
McLaren
Lando Norris: P13. Q1 = 1:18.243. Q2 = 1:18.119.
Oscar Piastri: P16. Q1 = 1:18.517.
Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton: P3. Q1 = 1:17.689. Q2 = 1:17.551. Q3 = 1:17.104.
George Russell: P2. Q1 = 1:17.654. Q2 = 1:17.513. Q3 = 1:16.968.
Red Bull
Max Verstappen: P1. Q1 = 1:17.384. Q2 = 1:17.056. Q3 = 1:16.732.
Sergio Perez: P20. DNF. Perez beached the car at Turn 3 during his first lap.
Williams
Alex Albon: P8. Q1 = 1:17.962. Q2 = 1:17.761. Q3 = 1:17.675.
Logan Sargeant: P18. Q1 = 1:18.557.
Pre-race Penalties
Thankfully, no penalties!
The Race
Starting Grid -
Position | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|
1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull |
2 | George Russell | Mercedes |
3 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes |
4 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin |
5 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari |
6 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin |
7 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari |
8 | Alex Albon | Williams |
9 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine |
10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas |
11 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine |
12 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri |
13 | Lando Norris | McLaren |
14 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas |
15 | Nyck De Vries | AlphaTauri |
16 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren |
17 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo |
18 | Logan Sargeant | Williams |
19 | Valtteri Bottas** | Alfa Romeo |
20 | Sergio Perez* | Red Bull |
*Perez starts from the pits due to not setting a time in qualifying.
**Bottas also had to start from pit after the car was modified under parc ferme.
Race Updates -
Lap 1 - George gets an amazing start and overtakes with Hamilton following shit into P2. Charles Leclerc goes off into the gravel and he’s out after being tagged by Stroll on turn 3.
Lap 2 - Safety car out. Ocon pits onto hards.
Lap 3 - Perez pits onto hards. Bottas, Sargeant and Zhou also go into the pits.
Lap 6 - Perez is starting to make his way through the pack, already at P16. Hamilton is starting to gain on his teammate.
Lap 7 - Alex Albon is out, just clipping the corner and spinning out due to oversteer. Safety car out. Russell pits under safety car as does Sainz. Hamilton is the new race leader.
Lap 8 - Red flag. Restart means there is a free pit stop meaning Sainz and Russell’s strategy has been hurt after putting under the safety car and coming out P11 and P7 respectively.
Lap 9 - Restart at 15:33 local time (06:33 BST). Verstappen on the radio reports that Hamilton is more than 10 car lengths behind the safety car on the formation lap. Restart procedure under investigation for both Hamilton and the cars at the back of the pack slowing each other down.
Restart Order:
Hamilton
Verstappen
Alonso
Stroll
Gasly
Hulkenberg
Russell
Tsunoda
Norris
Piastri
Sainz
De Vries
Ocon
Perez
Zhou
Bottas
Sargeant
Magnussen
Lap 10 - Contact for Nyck De Vries with Esteban Ocon, forcing De Vries into the gravel. De Vries didn’t give Ocon enough room, Ocon tried to back out but couldn’t avoid contact.
Lap 12 - Verstappen with the DRS is able to retake his P1 position.
Lap 13 - Russell makes the overtake on Gasly to take P4, with Stroll gaining.
Lap 15 - Sainz goes down the inside of Stroll to take P6.
Lap 18 - Russell DNF’s as his car catches fire. Virtual Safety Car has been deployed and put lane entry is closed as Russell pulls over towards pit exit.
Lap 19 - Green flag.
Lap 21 - Pit lane entry open again.
Lap 22 - Sainz attempts another overtake on Gasly but can’t quite make it.
Lap 25 - Sainz makes a move again on Gasly and takes P4 once again.
Lap 30 - Piastri goes round the outside of Tsunoda and takes P11.
Lap 42 - Perez chases Norris but Norris is fighting him off and don’t extraordinarily well keeping him begging for the last few laps.
Lap 43 - Perez manage to overtake Norris at turn 8.
Lap 47 - De Vries pits for softs.
Lap 52 - Norris finally manages to overtake Hullenberg when Hulkenberg misses the apex in turn 11. Hullenberg then slides through the gravel and is now P9.
Lap 53 - Magnussen loses his rear right wheel after veering wide into the concrete wall. Safety car deployed. Bottas, Zhou, and Piastri pits.
Lap 54 - Hamilton reports a lot of debris on the track.
Lap 55 - 2nd red flag. Lap 56 will be the formation, leaving 57 and 58 of racing laps left with no DRS. Race will resume at 16:56 local time (07:56 BST).
Restart Order:
Verstappen
Hamilton
Alonso
Sainz
Gasly
Stroll
Perez
Norris
Hulkenberg
Ocon
Piastri
Zhou
Tsunoda
Bottas
Sargeant
De Vries
Lap 56 - Formation lap begins.
Lap 57 - Chaos. Sainz makes contact with Alonso, sending Alonso spinning. Ocon and Gasly collide and both end up in the wall. De Vries also ends up getting caught in the thick of the pack and has to DNF. The race is red flagged and will restart at 17:33 local time (08:33 BST).
Restart order:
Verstappen
Hamilton
Alonso
Sainz
Stroll
Perez
Norris
Hulkenberg
Piastri
Zhou
Tsunoda
Bottas
Lap 58 - Race restarts and is completed as a formation lap under the safety car. Sainz is given a 5 second penalty for the contact with Alonso in lap 57, and Nico Hulkenberg breaks down on track during the cool down lap.
Fastest Lap - Perez: 1:20.235
Race Results -
Position | Driver | Team | Gap | Pit Stops |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | | 3 |
2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +0.179 | 3 |
3 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | +0.769 | 3 |
4 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +3.082 | 3 |
5 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | +3.320 | 5 |
6 | Lando Norris | McLaren | +3.701 | 3 |
7 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | +4.939 | 3 |
8 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +5.382 | 4 |
9 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | +5.713 | 5 |
10 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | +6.052 | 4 |
11 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | +6.513 | 6 |
12 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | +6.594 | 4 |
DNFs -
Charles Leclerc
Alex Albon
Kevin Magnussen
Esteban Ocon
Pierre Gasly
Nyck De Vries
Driver of the Day - Sergio Perez
Any Other News
Piastri took his maiden points today and at his home race! Congratulations to Oscar.
Championship Standings
World Driver Championship
Position | Driver | Points | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Max Verstappen | 69 | |
2 | Sergio Perez | 54 | +15 |
3 | Fernando Alonso | 45 | +9 |
4 | Lewis Hamilton | 38 | +7 |
5 | Carlos SAinz | 20 | +18 |
6 | Lance Stroll | 20 | +0 |
7 | George Russell | 18 | +2 |
8 | Lando Norris | 8 | +10 |
9 | Nico Hulkenberg | 6 | +2 |
10 | Charles Leclerc | 6 | +0 |
11 | Valtteri Botas | 4 | +2 |
12 | Esteban Ocon | 4 | +0 |
13 | Oscar Piastri | 4 | +0 |
14 | Pierre Gasly | 4 | +0 |
15 | Zhou Guanyu | 2 | +2 |
16 | Yuki Tsunoda | 1 | +1 |
17 | Kevin Magnussen | 1 | +0 |
18 | Alex Albon | 1 | +0 |
19 | Logan Sargeant | 0 | +1 |
20 | Nyck De Vries | 0 | +0 |
World Constructor Championship
Position | Team | Points | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Red Bull | 123 | |
2 | Aston Martin | 65 | +58 |
3 | Mercedes | 56 | +9 |
4 | Ferrari | 26 | +30 |
5 | McLaren | 12 | +14 |
6 | Alpine | 8 | +4 |
7 | Haas | 7 | +1 |
8 | Alfa ROmeo | 6 | +1 |
9 | AlphaTauri | 1 | +1 |
10 | Williams | 1 | +0 |