F1 | Australian Grand Prix 2018: Preview and Weekend Times

Opening hours

Friday March 23

Free 1: 2:00-3:30 (Sky Sport F1 HD)

Free 2: 6:00-7:30 (Sky Sport F1 HD)

Saturday March 24

Free 3: 4:00-5:00 (Sky Sport F1 HD)

Qualifying: 7pm (Sky Sport F00 HD)

Full deferral at 19pm on TV00

Sunday March 25

Race: 7:10 – 58 laps – 307,574km (Sky Sport F1 HD)

Full deferral at 21pm on TV00

* all times indicated refer to Italy: there is a 10 hour difference between Italy and Australia

Test

Despite the snow and very low temperatures compared to seasonal averages, and although the teams, as befits pre-season tests, have not yet revealed all their cards on the table, the eight days on the track in Barcelona have provided sufficient data for a first analysis on the behavior of the 2018 cars, at least in the first races. Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull are the top teams to keep an eye on from a world championship perspective, with the Austrian team having brought the best car of the last three years to the track for testing. The RB14, powered by Renault this year, is currently not that far from Ferrari: both will have to refine their single-seaters by trying to get the most out of the circuits that are most congenial to each. Between the two main rivals of the 2017 season, in general a more complete Mercedes emerged, although still a bit in difficulty with the softer compounds. Ferrari, on the other hand, which worked above all on the general efficiency of the single-seater during the winter, proved once again better with the intermediate compounds (good with the soft), but overall there remain points to be unlocked, from aerodynamics to purely motoring part. However, the one seen at Montmelò was a very reliable car with potential. In terms of km travelled, Mercedes was just ahead of Ferrari, with Toro Rosso, powered by Honda, in third place. But it seems that the units used by the Faenza team were five. McLaren, on the other hand, brings up the rear, pushed this year by Renault, which evidently has not yet managed to best interpret the pairing with the new French engine manufacturer.

Predictions from F1GrandPrix.it Making a prediction on the first race is quite risky but, with the test results in hand, and aware of the tires that will be used for the first race of the season, soft supersoft and ultrasoft, presumably the first challenge of the year will see Mercedes and Ferrari involved , with the Red Bull keeping the Red Bull "company". As always, it will be a "zero" race, with new single-seaters, new compounds - having expanded the range, the 2018 Pirelli compounds are one step softer than last year's - and a track that could vary based on weather conditions, changing over the course of the weekend. However, it will be interesting to see how the "new entries" will behave in this first race: from the Renault power unit for the McLaren, to the Honda one for the Toro Rosso, as well as the young rookies Charles Leclerc and Sergej Sirotkin, respectively first drivers from this year of Sauber and Williams.

Circuit

Name: Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit

Place: Albert Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Construction: The Albert Park circuit was already active in the 50s but was subsequently not used due to numerous environmental protests. From 1985 to 1996, the Australian F1 GP was held on the Adelaide street circuit. The circuit is built by joining the perimeter roads of the Albert Park lake, normally open to traffic: it is, so to speak, a semi-city circuit. In 1996, in view of the arrival of the Formula 1 championship in the town, some of the original curves were revised, with the aim of reducing speed, and new pits were built. However, it has remained a very fast circuit, despite being the result of the union of roads normally open to traffic.

Distance per lap: 5,303 km

Number of curves: 16, ten on the right and six on the left

Direction of travel: clockwise

Technical data:

Characteristics of the Track: This track is quite severe for gear changes. The driver makes around 2700 changes throughout the race, with around 65 changes each lap. The optimal functioning of the single-seater's cooling system is quite crucial, with the danger that the leaves present on the track could clog the radiators. The hourly average for this route is around 213 km/h.

Brakes:

Rubber:

DRS zone: main straight (between turn 16 and turn 1, with detection point before turn 14). Straight between turn 2 and turn 3 (with detection point before turn 14). For the first time, a third zone has been added, to facilitate overtaking and entertainment: it is the straight, which also has a small bend to the right, between turns 12 and 13, with a detection point before turn 11.

Previous Editions

Last 3 Editions

2015 edition: It is the (not very fortuitous) return of Honda as engine supplier, the Team McLaren he thus leaves Mercedes after many years. Fernando Alonso he missed this GP as a precaution after the accident in testing, being replaced by Kevin Magnussen. On Fridays FP1 and FP2 are monopolized by Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), followed closely by his teammate Lewis Hamilton, while the Clean and the Manor: the first due to a legal problem with the former driver Giedo Van der Garde, the second due to a software problem following the purchase of the former Marussia. In FP3 on Saturday morning, however, it was the Englishman who proved to be fastest in front Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari). Qualifications: is Lewis Hamilton once again the best in Q1, Q2 and finally Q3, with the thirty-ninth career pole. Followed by Rosberg, Massa (Williams), Vettel, Raikkonen, Bottas (who will not race due to a back problem), Ricciardo (Red Bull Racing), Carlos Sainz Jr. (Toro Rosso), Romain Grosjean (Lotus) and Pastor Maldonado (Lotus). Race: At the end of the formation lap Kvyat, stopped by a gearbox problem, and Kevin Magnussen were forced to abandon the race due to an engine failure. At the start the leading duo maintained the lead while behind Maldonado crashed and, hit by Felipe Nasr (Sauber), ended up against the external barriers, causing the safety car to come out. Räikkönen goes to the pits on lap 16, where a problem fixing the left rear tire causes him to lose a few seconds. From the 22nd to the 26th lap the top four also return, and while Hamilton has no problems managing first place, behind Massa he has to give up third place to Vettel. His teammate also recovered to fourth place, but was forced to retire on lap 41 after another rear wheel fixing problem. The situation does not change and so Hamilton goes on to win ahead of Rosberg and Vettel. Rookies Nasr (5th) and Sainz Jr. (9th) immediately scored points.

2016 edition: The new regulation regarding tire allocation provides three possible compounds that can be used by the drivers during the race weekend. For the first race of the season, medium, soft and supersoft tires are chosen. One set of medium tires and one set of soft tires must be used during the race. For Q3 the use of a set of supersoft tires is imposed: the new regulation in fact requires that drivers keep a set of the softer compound. This set will be returned to Pirelli by the 8 drivers who qualify for Q3, while it will be available for the race for all the other drivers. The remaining sets are at the discretion of the drivers. From this year the Manor it is powered by Mercedes and no longer Ferrari, while Toro Rosso leaves Renault for the power unit made in Maranello. The engine Renault di Red Bull is renamed, for commercial reasons, Renault TAG Heuer. The American is added to the list of 2016 World Championship teams Haas, with pilots Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutiérrez. Also making their debut in an F1 race are Pascal Wehrlein and the Indonesian Rio Haryanto, both for Manor, and the British Jolyon Palmer, with Renault. On Friday we find him where we left him, the 2015 World Champion Lewis Hamilton: ahead of everyone else right from Free Practice 1. The Briton from Mercedes immediately prevailed over the two Red Bulls, with Kvyat ahead of Ricciardo. Rain and wind characterized the session, with Vettel and Sainz remaining without a time. In the afternoon Hamilton repeats himself - while very critical weather conditions persist - bringing home the best time in Free Practice 2 as well. Nico Rosberg, which ends up against the barriers. Hulkenberg with the Force India the second half is taken, followed by Ferrari by Raikkonen. On Saturday morning the Briton's Mercedes is still there, chased by that of his teammate and Vettel's Red, while the bad weather has granted a respite. Qualifications: it's the year of the new format, the one that should get the show back on track but it's pretty clear from the start that something isn't working. The "game of chair" type direct elimination only creates great confusion and, in fact, from the third GP we will return to the old formula. Hamilton still plays poker and also takes home pole position, the 50th of his career, with a time of 1:23.837. The front row competes with Rosberg, while behind the two are Vettel and Raikkonen. The three drivers had to give up the fight for the starting pole for the race, preferring to save the tyres: the long-awaited show ended 4 minutes before the checkered flag, with Hamilton having already pocketed the pole. The first five rows are completed with Verstappen, Massa, Sainz, Ricciardo, Perez and Hulkenberg. Race: We start with two reconnaissance laps; there Red Bull Kvyat is unable to line up and the Russian is forced to raise the white flag due to electrical problems. When the traffic lights go out Vettel surprises everyone and burns both Mercedes. Raikkonen follows him faithfully, while Hamilton is also overtaken by Verstappen. Magnussen gets a puncture and immediately returns to the pits. On lap 4 Hamilton passes Massa and takes fifth place, but struggles to reach the Toro Rosso by Verstappen. On lap 13 Rosberg brings forward the pit stop, two laps later it is Vettel's turn, who returns ahead of Rosberg. Hamilton and Raikkonen also return on lap 17. On the track Gutierrez and Alonso are involved in a scary accident! The safety car comes out and shortly after the race is stopped due to too much debris. After twenty minutes we start again: Vettel leads Rosberg, Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Verstappen, Sainz, Hamilton, Massa, Grosjean and Hulkenberg. On lap 22 the Ferrari of Raikkonen retreats, surrounded by smoke and flames. Together with him, Kvyat, Gutierrez, Alonso and Haryanto have already left the field. On lap 32 Sainz returns to the pits and Hamilton rises to fourth place. On lap 36 Vettel had to return to the pits for the final tire change, and Rosberg thus became the race leader. On lap 42 Hamilton managed to overtake Ricciardo and move up to second. Vettel, in third position, approaches threateningly but a mistake pushes him into the grass and Mercedes regains ground. The checkered flag gave the first victory of the season to Nico Rosberg ahead of Hamilton, Vettel, Ricciardo, Massa, Grosjean, Hulkenberg, Bottas, Sainz and Verstappen.

2017 edition: The 2017 season opens under the banner of the two Mercedes, with Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas leading the group at the conclusion of Free Practice 1. The Brackley duo is the only one in the morning to take advantage of the softer compound of the new Pirelli tyres, from this They are much wider and faster. The two Red Bulls, with Ricciardo third at eight tenths, chase the Silver Arrows, ahead of Raikkonen and Vettel. At the end of Free Practice 2, the protagonist is still Lewis Hamilton, who with a time of 1:23.620 was half a second behind the pace. Ferrari di Vettel. The German preceded Bottas' Mercedes and his teammate's car Raikkonen, fourth ahead of two Red Bull. There were two red flags in the afternoon, with Palmer who sent the Renault into a spin and ended up crashing into the barriers, and Felipe Massa who also ended the session early, parking his Williams on the side of the track. On Saturday morning the situation on the track is reversed: Vettel is in fact the one to gain (almost) half a second from the Mercedes, with Bottas ahead of Hamilton; Raikkonen's Red team was fourth. But the news of the day is that Antonio Giovinazzi, at the wheel of Sauber starting from Free Practice 3, will replace Wehrlein in the race on Sunday too. Qualifications: on Stroll's Williams the gearbox was replaced after it went off the track at the end of Free Practice 3; on the Ferrari the control unit and batteries have been replaced. At the end of Q1 Giovinazzi, Magnussen, Vandoorne, Stroll and Palmer are out, while Hamilton leads the group. Raikkonen complains of some problems with the rear of his SF70-H, despite second place, 3 tenths behind the Englishman. In Q2 Bottas precedes Hamilton, Raikkonen and Vettel; Perez, Hulkenberg, Alonso, Ocon and Ericsson, however, remain excluded. Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull, Toro Rosso, Grosjean and Massa remain to compete for pole, while the track begins to get wet in some places. Vettel sets the best time but then Hamilton overtakes him, before the red flag waves for Ricciardo's off-track! At the restart Bottas took the lead, then Hamilton set the best time of 1:22.188, which earned him pole position. Behind him, Vettel, Bottas, Raikkonen, Verstappen, Grosjean, Massa, Sainz, Kvyat and Ricciardo complete the top ten. Competition: Five place grid penalties for Ricciardo, the gearbox on his RB13 was replaced; However, there are still some problems during the reconnaissance lap and the Australian will therefore start from the pits. Same replacement also on Williams by Stroll, but without notifying the commissioners: fine and last starting position for the Canadian. When the traffic lights go out the start is aborted: Stroll is not positioned correctly on the grid. Another training round. At the second start Hamilton got off to a good start and at the first corner the top four positions remained unchanged. The first overtaking is by Perez on Kvyat. Further behind, Ericsson attacks Magnussen, but the Haas is unable to turn and drags both of them into the gravel: puncture for the Dane, who goes to the pits first. Meanwhile, Ricciardo started two laps behind. On lap 3 Hamilton leads Vettel by 7 tenths, followed by Bottas, Raikkonen, Verstappen, Massa, Grosjean, Sainz, Perez, Kvyat, Alonso and Hulkenberg. Giovinazzi is in sixteenth position. Grosjean retired on lap 16, with the PU in smoke. On lap 17 Hamilton goes to the pits early and puts on the new soft tires. He returns to the track fifth behind Verstappen, who he fails to catch. Vettel has become leader of the race, and on lap 20 he precedes Bottas, Kimi, Verstappen, Hamilton, Massa, Kvyat, Perez, Sainz and Alonso. On lap 23 the German stops in the pits and puts on the soft tyre. There Ferrari he returns ahead of Verstappen and Hamilton. Retirement for Ericsson. On lap 26 Verstappen and Raikkonen also pitted. Vettel returns to the race leader ahead of Hamilton, Bottas, Raikkonen, Verstappen, Kvyat, Massa, Perez, Sainz and Alonso. On lap 28 Ricciardo retired. Stroll's Williams also retired on lap 46 due to a brake problem. Hamilton moves within 6 and a half seconds of the leader. A few laps from the end, Alonso, Ocon and Hulkenberg start a tight battle, with the Force India which snatches the position from the McLaren, then also outclassed by Renault. The Spaniard complains of a suspension problem and will retire one step away from the end. Meanwhile, Ferrari continues undisturbed towards the finish line in the lead, with Mercedes more than 10 seconds further away. The first race of the season goes to Sebastian Vettel, ahead of Hamilton, Bottas, Raikkonen, Verstappen, Massa, Perez, Sainz, Kvyat and Ocon. Giovinazzi finishes second to last, ahead of Vandoorne. Out of 20 single-seaters, 7 withdrew.

Best edition for the Authors

1991 edition: A truly special Grand Prix from several points of view. On the eve of the match, Ferrari fired Alain Prost following a series of statements that would have damaged the good name of the Team. Replacing him is Gianni Morbidelli, the team's test driver and Minardi driver, who in turn is replaced by Roberto Moreno. The weekend opens with splendid sunshine on Australian soil and qualifying is dominated by McLaren – Honda of Ayrton Senna (poleman in 1'14''041) and Gerhard Berger (+0.344), followed by Williams - Renault of Mansell (+ 0.781) and Patrese (+ 1.016). Fifth and sixth are Piquet's Benettons (last race for him) and Michael Schumacher. On Sunday the race takes place under torrential rain, it is November 3rd: at the start the cars start off regularly and no accidents occur, Senna maintains the lead of the race, while behind it is Patrese who is in difficulty, losing two positions. On the third lap Berger goes off the track, leaving the field to Mansell, who quickly catches up with Senna but is unable to overtake him, both due to the rain and the display of yellow flags in some points, particularly at the end of the straights. We are at the tenth lap when the rain increases in intensity and causes a series of exits: Martini, Schumacher, Alesi, Larini and Boutsen. Patrese is in difficulty, with a wing from another car underneath him, Berger in the meantime is the protagonist of continuous off-track exits and so is Mansell. On lap 16 Senna requests the race to be suspended, being satisfied by the stewards who wave the checkered flag on the following lap. Since 75% of the GP has not been completed, only half points are awarded. Senna wins ahead of Mansell and Berger. “This was not a race. We just had to think about staying on the track and there was really no point in pushing" the Brazilian driver would later say to the microphones. The 1991 Australian GP lasted just 24 minutes, and was the shortest race in history.

Best edition for Readers

2007 edition: The season kicks off, as usual, on March 16th in Australia; for the first time since the 1986 Spanish Grand Prix no participating single-seater is equipped with engines prepared by Cosworth. Qualifying saw a heated battle between Kimi Räikkönen (1'26''072) and Fernando Alonso (1:26.493), won by the Finnish driver from Ferrari, who took pole position. Lewis Hamilton, making his F1 debut, was fourth behind Nick Heidfeld (BMW – Clean). At the start the Finn behaves like a true "Iceman" and firmly maintains the lead of the race, while it is his rival, and two-time Spanish world champion, who is overtaken by his younger English teammate, who will maintain second position ahead of him for some time. Only a better strategy dictated by experience will allow Alonso to regain second place. After 58 laps the Ferrari driver thus went on to win over the duo McLaren, Heidfeld, Fisichella, Massa (author of a great comeback from last position, after the gearbox failure), Rosberg and Ralf Schumacher. It is only the beginning that will enable the Finnish driver to win the world championship in an exciting season.

RECORD

Test lap: 1:22.188 – L Hamilton – Mercedes – 2017
Race lap: 1:24.125 – M Schumacher – Ferrari – 2004
Distance: 1h24:11.672 – S Vettel – Ferrari – 2017
Driver victories: 4 – M Schumacher
Team victories: 11 – McLaren
Driver pole: 6 – A Senna, L Hamilton
Pole team: 10 – McLaren
Best driver laps: 6 – K Raikkonen
Best team laps: 9 – Ferrari
Driver podiums: 7 – L Hamilton
Team podiums: 26 – McLaren

Hall of Fame

1. 1985 K Rosberg – Williams Honda
2. 1986 A Prost – McLaren TAG
3. 1987 G Berger – Ferrari
4. 1988 A Prost – McLaren Honda
5. 1989 T Boutsen – Williams Renault
6. 1990 N Piquet – Benetton Ford
7. 1991 At Senna – McLaren Honda
8. 1992 G Berger – McLaren Honda
9. 1993 At Senna – McLaren Ford
10. 1994 N Mansell – Williams Renault
11. 1995 D Hill – Williams Renault
12. 1996 D Hill – Williams Renault
13. 1997 D Coulthard – McLaren Mercedes
14. 1998 M Hakkinen – McLaren Mercedes
15. 1999 E Irvine – Ferrari
16. 2000 M Schumacher – Ferrari
17. 2001 M Schumacher – Ferrari
18. 2002 M Schumacher – Ferrari
19. 2003 D Coulthard – McLaren Mercedes
20. 2004 M Schumacher – Ferrari
21. 2005 G Fisichella – Renault
22. 2006 F Alonso – Renault
23. 2007 K Raikkonen – Ferrari
24. 2008 Hamilton – McLaren Mercedes
25. 2009 J Button – Brawn Mercedes
26. 2010 J Button – McLaren Mercedes
27. 2011 S Vettel – Red Bull Renault
28. 2012 J Button – McLaren Mercedes
29. 2013 K Raikkonen – Lotus Renault
30. 2014 N Rosberg – Mercedes
31. 2015 L Hamilton – Mercedes
32. 2016 N Rosberg – Mercedes
33. 2017 S Vettel – Ferrari

Sources: Brembo, Pirelli, Magneti Marelli