Australian Grand Prix
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit |
|
| Laps | 58 |
|---|---|
| Circuit length | 5.30 km (3.30 miles) |
| Race length | 307.57 km (191.12 miles) |
| Most wins by single driver | Lex Davidson (4) Michael Schumacher (4) |
| Most wins by single constructor | McLaren (11) |
| Last race (2006): | |
| Winner | Fernando Alonso |
| Winning team | Renault |
| Winning time | 1:34:27.870 |
| Pole time | 1:25.229 |
| Pole driver | Jenson Button |
| Pole team | Honda |
| Fastest lap | 1:26.045 |
| Fastest lap driver | Kimi Räikkönen |
| Fastest lap team | McLaren |
| edit | |
The Australian Grand Prix is a Formula One race held that is part of the annual Formula One championship season. It is currently held at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit in Albert Park, and prior to that, was held at the Adelaide Grand Prix Cricuit in Adelaide.
Australian Grands Prix, which were not part of the World Championship but did feature F1-style open-wheeler racing vehicles, were held at various circuits around Australia for many years. A notable venue in the 1950s was a road circuit at Albert Park in Melbourne, for many years. They sometimes attracted the world's top drivers of the era, who competed against (and were challenged by) local entrants. The last such race was held in 1984.
Australia became part of the F1 world championship in 1985 with the last race of the season held on the street circuit in Adelaide. The circuit, whilst not as ridiculously tight as Monaco, was notoriously tough on drivers and gearboxes. The most famous race there was undoubtedly the 1986 event, where Nigel Mansell, and Nelson Piquet in a Williams, and Alain Prost in a comparatively underpowered McLaren were still competing for the title. Mansell needed only third to guarantee the title, whilst Prost and Piquet needed to win and for Mansell to finish lower than third to take the title. Whilst comfortably in the top three with a few laps to go, Mansell's Williams suffered a spectacular mechanical failure, with a rear tyre puncture at very high speed near the end of the main straight creating a huge shower of sparks as the floor of the vehicle dragged along the bitumen surface. Mansell fought to control the violently veering car and steered it to a safe stop. Prost took the lead and won the race and the championship. Prost himself came incredibly close to failure, as his vehicle coasted to a halt on his warm-down lap, out of fuel.
The Adelaide Street Circuit, which held its last race in 1995, has often been stated as being one of, if not, the greatest street circuits in the world. Whenever the teams came to Adelaide they enjoyed the party atmosphere.[citation needed]
In 1993 prominent Melbourne businessman Mr Ron Walker AC CBE, current Chairman of the Australian Grand Prix began working with the then Kennett government to make Melbourne the host of the event. After the government of Jeff Kennett spent an undisclosed (but speculated to be quite large) amount, it was announced in late 1993 (days after a South Australian election) that the race would be shifted to a rebuilt Albert Park street circuit in Melbourne. The race moved to Melbourne in 1996. The decision to hold the race there was controversial. A series of protests were organised by the "Save Albert Park" group, who claimed that the race turned a public park into a private playground for much of the year. Additionally, they claimed that the race cost a great deal of money that would be better spent, if it was to be spent on motor racing, on a permanent circuit elsewhere. Finally, they said that the claimed economic benefits of the race were false or exaggerated. The race organisers and the government claimed that the economic benefits to the state outweighed the costs, and that the park's public amenities have been improved considerably by the works carried out for the race.
The idea of a permanent racing circuit has never really been addressed, but there is much speculation that the real reason for a street circuit is to provide a distinctive backdrop for television - a permanent race circuit would be unidentifiable and, from the perspective of the Formula One organisers, may as well be held in Europe at much lesser cost and inconvenience to them. In any case, a substantial number of people do embrace (and attend) the race at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit.
The race was struck by tragedy in 2001, when a flying tyre from a crash between Ralf Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve flew through a gap in the barrier fence and killed a volunteer track marshal, Graham Beveridge.
The 2002 event saw the best performance by an Australian driver when Mark Webber, in the perennially uncompetitive Minardi, took advantage of the misfortune of other competitors to finish an unlikely fifth, holding off a fast-closing Mika Salo in a much faster Toyota. He and the Australian-born team owner Paul Stoddart became instant national celebrities well beyond the motor racing world, the minor placing receiving far more attention in Australia than Michael Schumacher's win.
Traditionally, Melbourne has hosted the opening round of the championship. In 2006 Melbourne hosted the 3rd round because they were hosting the Commonwealth Games when they would normally host the Grand Prix.
There are rumours that Adelaide may host a Formula One race again when Melbourne's contract comes up for review. The Adelaide usually turned a profit, something which Melbourne has yet to achieve.[citation needed]
[edit] Attendance
[edit] Winners of the Australian Grands Prix
Events which were not part of the Formula One World Championship are indicated by a pink background.
[edit] External links
- The Australian Grand Prix official website
- Australian Grand Prix Statistics
- Melbourne Formula 1 Statistics
| Races in the Formula One championship: |
| 2006 championship Grand Prix events: Bahrain | Malaysian | Australian | San Marino | European | Spanish | Monaco | British | Canadian |
| Past championship Grand Prix events: Argentine | Austrian | Belgian | Dutch | Indy 500 | Las Vegas | Luxembourg | Mexican |
