1. The fan-friendly city of Melbourne

 

Whether you are at the track or watching from afar, you can’t miss the stunning backdrop of Melbourne, which is a short tram ride from the F1 venue. The 5.2km temporary circuit winds around Albert Park lake and is within walking distance of the beautiful sandy beaches of St. Kilda.

The Australian Grand Prix is one of the most popular on the calendar with 444,631 attending the four days last year, ensuring the bars and restaurants on the Yarra river are always buzzing with race fans.

 


2. Jack takes to the track

 

Reserve driver Jack Doohan will take part in a very special demonstration in Melbourne during the weekend. Jack will partner his father Mick for the first time on-track, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Doohan Sr’s first of five 500cc motorcycle world championships.

Jack will take the wheel of the Benetton B200 — designed and built at our Enstone base in 2000 — alongside Mick who will ride a production MotoGP Honda RCV213. The pair will take to the track twice on Saturday and ahead of the race on Sunday lunchtime.

 


3. Academy racers in support action

 

The Australian Grand Prix weekend is one of the few F1 races to feature four full-days of track action, including the return of Formula 2 and Formula 3 to the Albert Park circuit.

After securing a fourth and third place in the two F3 races in Australia last year, keep an eye on Alpine Academy driver Gabriele Mini as he aims to go one better in 2024. And in Formula 2 fellow Academy racer Kush Maini will be pushing for a repeat podium performance after last week’s outing in Jeddah, while Victor Martins will be challenging for honours at the wheel of his ART.

 


4. Drama guaranteed…

 

For over a quarter of a century, Albert Park has provided a number of dramatic moments, thanks in part to its temporary nature and barriers close to the edge of the track. In recent years the layout has been speeded up, but it still remains challenging at Turn 1 and under-braking for Turn 3 where it’s common to see incidents, especially on the opening lap of the race.
Last year was no exception when the race was interrupted by numerous Safety Cars and three red flag stoppages.

 


5. Don’t forget to set your alarm clock

 

Unless you’re lucky enough to be in Melbourne, for the rest of the world it’s a completely different schedule to watch the live action. Albert Park is 11 hours ahead of Enstone and 10 hours ahead of Viry-Châtillon which means FP1 gets underway in the early hours of Friday morning next week. Or that’s 6.30pm on Thursday evening if you’re watching in California…

For qualifying the 4pm start in Australia means an early morning in Europe — and it’s even earlier on Sunday! The three o’clock race start in Albert Park is 5am for our engineers in Viry and 4am for the strategists in Enstone. Make sure the kettle is on…