As teams, fans, media and everyone associated with Formula 1 await the 2013 season’s curtain raiser in Melbourne next weekend, Auto123.com's newest recruit, British journalist George East, takes a look at the best and worst Australian Grands Prix since the first event was held Down Under in 1985.
10. 2008 - Lewis conquers the carnage
The season opener was characterized by McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton scoring a controlled lights to flag win in a race that featured just six finishers and three safety car periods in 37C degree conditions. Furthermore, all six powered Ferrari cars – the two works cars of Raikkonen and Massa, the Toro Rossos of Bourdais and Vettel and the Force Indias of Sutil and Fisichella – failed to finish the race.
9. 2005 - the changing of the guard.
Whilst 2003 was the first event in four years that a Ferrari driver had not stood on the podium, the 2005 race was pivotal in signalling that the balance of power had shifted in F1. The newly signed Giancarlo Fisichella took an emphatic pole to flag victory in the Renault R25 with with team-mate Fernando Alonso charging from 13th to third. The Spaniard went on to claim his first world title that year, and in the process became the youngest driver in the history of the sport to do so.
8. 1996 - Jacques rocks the boat
Although the first race in Melbourne will hardly go down as a ‘classic’, the 1996 Australian Grand Prix heralded the arrival of Jacques Villeneuve. The son of the mercurial Gilles, Jacques literally ‘rocked up’ from IndyCar with his baggy Williams overalls and dyed hair and proceeded to join the elite club of drivers who scored a pole position on their debut race. Had it not been for an oil leak on his Williams Renault, Jacques would have completed the triple in his first race: pole, fastest lap and the win.
7. 1988 - McLaren make history
The final race of 1988 saw McLaren Honda make history by scoring its 15th win in 16 starts with its MP4/4. Alain Prost won the race by 36.4 seconds from team-mate Ayrton Senna with Nelson Piquet finishing third in a Honda powered Lotus, giving the Japanese manufacturer a podium clean sweep in the last race for the 1.5 turbocharged engines until – should the rumours be true - 2014.
6. 1985 - Formula 1 arrives Down Under
1985 heralded the arrival of Formula 1 in Australia with the Adelaide based race running to its full two-hour limit over 81 out of 82 laps. Ayrton Senna recorded pole position in a Lotus Honda and the race saw the final victory of the Williams Honda/Keke Rosberg combination ahead of the Ligier Renaults of Jacques Lafitte and Philippe Streiff. The event was also one of many lasts as it was the final event for triple world champion Niki Lauda, the Toleman team (although it would reappear in 1986 under the guise of Benetton) and for Alfa Romeo and Renault as manufacturers, although the latter would reappear as the once again as a full manufacturer in 2002.
5. 1991 - Senna wins shortest ever Grand Prix
In the year of his third and final title, Ayrton Senna won the shortest race in Formula 1 history that was stopped after just 14 of the 82 scheduled laps (24 minutes) due to treacherous conditions. After the race, the Brazilian slammed the conditions by saying “I don’t think that was a race, there was no point to try to go quick at all. It was impossible.”
4. 1994 - Schumacher takes the title under a cloud
In a season that was clouded by tragedy and controversy, the 1994 season ender – then held in Adelaide – continued in a similar manner; Williams’ Damon Hill entered the race just one point behind championship leader, Michael Schumacher. Lap 36 proved decisive as Schumacher’s ill-handling Benetton turned in on Hill, immediately retiring the young German on the spot with his rival retiring at the end of the lap with a damaged suspension; subsequently, Schumacher claimed the first of his seven.
3. 1986 - Prost outsmarts Mansell and Piquet in Adelaide
In a vastly superior Williams Honda, Nigel Mansell needed only a third position to secure his first title, whereas team mate Piquet and Alain Prost – in a much less powerful McLaren-TAG - needed to win, with the Brit finishing third or lower. Fate played a hand in issuing Mansell’s car a spectacular mechanical failure whilst in a championship winning position on the 20th lap, which forced him into retirement. Whilst his team-mate pitted as a safety precaution, Prost claimed the win and an unexpected second consecutive drivers title.
2. 2009 - a fairy tale beginning
The 2009 Australian Grand Prix could not have been scripted better; the newly formed Brawn – formerly Honda - team took a 1-2 in qualifying and the race with Jenson Button leading team-mate Rubens Barrichello home in the Mercedes powered BGP001. Brawn also made history by becoming the second car manufacturer since Mercedes in 1954 by winning their maiden event.
1. 2002 - Webber makes his mark
In an event that is widely remembered for the nine-car pile up at the start, the 2002 Australian Grand Prix was also a matter of Australian pride. In an uncompetitive Minardi, then newcomer Mark Webber kept his head amongst the attrition and brough the car – with body damage, a missing top gear and a vastly more powerful Toyota of Mika Salo behind him – home to a fifth place and two world championship points on his debut. The result was so welcome to the Australian crowd, that Webber and fellow Australian, Minardi team principal Paul Stoddart, were given their own podium celebrations after the race.
10. 2008 - Lewis conquers the carnage
The season opener was characterized by McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton scoring a controlled lights to flag win in a race that featured just six finishers and three safety car periods in 37C degree conditions. Furthermore, all six powered Ferrari cars – the two works cars of Raikkonen and Massa, the Toro Rossos of Bourdais and Vettel and the Force Indias of Sutil and Fisichella – failed to finish the race.
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| Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 2008. (Photo: WRi2) |
9. 2005 - the changing of the guard.
Whilst 2003 was the first event in four years that a Ferrari driver had not stood on the podium, the 2005 race was pivotal in signalling that the balance of power had shifted in F1. The newly signed Giancarlo Fisichella took an emphatic pole to flag victory in the Renault R25 with with team-mate Fernando Alonso charging from 13th to third. The Spaniard went on to claim his first world title that year, and in the process became the youngest driver in the history of the sport to do so.
8. 1996 - Jacques rocks the boat
Although the first race in Melbourne will hardly go down as a ‘classic’, the 1996 Australian Grand Prix heralded the arrival of Jacques Villeneuve. The son of the mercurial Gilles, Jacques literally ‘rocked up’ from IndyCar with his baggy Williams overalls and dyed hair and proceeded to join the elite club of drivers who scored a pole position on their debut race. Had it not been for an oil leak on his Williams Renault, Jacques would have completed the triple in his first race: pole, fastest lap and the win.
7. 1988 - McLaren make history
The final race of 1988 saw McLaren Honda make history by scoring its 15th win in 16 starts with its MP4/4. Alain Prost won the race by 36.4 seconds from team-mate Ayrton Senna with Nelson Piquet finishing third in a Honda powered Lotus, giving the Japanese manufacturer a podium clean sweep in the last race for the 1.5 turbocharged engines until – should the rumours be true - 2014.
6. 1985 - Formula 1 arrives Down Under
1985 heralded the arrival of Formula 1 in Australia with the Adelaide based race running to its full two-hour limit over 81 out of 82 laps. Ayrton Senna recorded pole position in a Lotus Honda and the race saw the final victory of the Williams Honda/Keke Rosberg combination ahead of the Ligier Renaults of Jacques Lafitte and Philippe Streiff. The event was also one of many lasts as it was the final event for triple world champion Niki Lauda, the Toleman team (although it would reappear in 1986 under the guise of Benetton) and for Alfa Romeo and Renault as manufacturers, although the latter would reappear as the once again as a full manufacturer in 2002.
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| Keke Rosberg, Williams, 1985. (Photo: WRi2) |
5. 1991 - Senna wins shortest ever Grand Prix
In the year of his third and final title, Ayrton Senna won the shortest race in Formula 1 history that was stopped after just 14 of the 82 scheduled laps (24 minutes) due to treacherous conditions. After the race, the Brazilian slammed the conditions by saying “I don’t think that was a race, there was no point to try to go quick at all. It was impossible.”
4. 1994 - Schumacher takes the title under a cloud
In a season that was clouded by tragedy and controversy, the 1994 season ender – then held in Adelaide – continued in a similar manner; Williams’ Damon Hill entered the race just one point behind championship leader, Michael Schumacher. Lap 36 proved decisive as Schumacher’s ill-handling Benetton turned in on Hill, immediately retiring the young German on the spot with his rival retiring at the end of the lap with a damaged suspension; subsequently, Schumacher claimed the first of his seven.
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| Michael Schumacher (Benetton) and Damon Hill (Williams), 1994. (Photo: WRi2) |
3. 1986 - Prost outsmarts Mansell and Piquet in Adelaide
In a vastly superior Williams Honda, Nigel Mansell needed only a third position to secure his first title, whereas team mate Piquet and Alain Prost – in a much less powerful McLaren-TAG - needed to win, with the Brit finishing third or lower. Fate played a hand in issuing Mansell’s car a spectacular mechanical failure whilst in a championship winning position on the 20th lap, which forced him into retirement. Whilst his team-mate pitted as a safety precaution, Prost claimed the win and an unexpected second consecutive drivers title.
2. 2009 - a fairy tale beginning
The 2009 Australian Grand Prix could not have been scripted better; the newly formed Brawn – formerly Honda - team took a 1-2 in qualifying and the race with Jenson Button leading team-mate Rubens Barrichello home in the Mercedes powered BGP001. Brawn also made history by becoming the second car manufacturer since Mercedes in 1954 by winning their maiden event.
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| Jenson Button, Brawn GP, 2009. (Photo: WRi2) |
1. 2002 - Webber makes his mark
In an event that is widely remembered for the nine-car pile up at the start, the 2002 Australian Grand Prix was also a matter of Australian pride. In an uncompetitive Minardi, then newcomer Mark Webber kept his head amongst the attrition and brough the car – with body damage, a missing top gear and a vastly more powerful Toyota of Mika Salo behind him – home to a fifth place and two world championship points on his debut. The result was so welcome to the Australian crowd, that Webber and fellow Australian, Minardi team principal Paul Stoddart, were given their own podium celebrations after the race.
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| Mark Webber, Minardi, 2002. (Photo WRi2) |