Australia: Melbourne Track Facts

Forget 2006...
By Phil Huff
March 14 2007

Albert Park was used for the non-championship Australian Grand Prix as early as 1953, but regular GP racing returned to the sporting capital of Australia in 1996.

The circuit is remarkably unchanged, still weaving around the park lake, although now in a clock-wise direction, with the old circuit running along the back of the pit area.

Albert Park is a high downforce circuit and one that is very popular with the drivers. The 5.303km track features a mixture of short straights and slow to medium speed corners, and requires the car set-up to have a balance of good traction and stability under braking, as well as being aerodynamically efficient.

The circuit uses the normal roads of Albert Park as the basis of its layout, so the surface is normally quite dirty when the cars start running on Friday. It cleans up quickly however and lap times fall as rubber goes down in the corners. The generally smooth surface means tyre wear is not an issue, but getting tyres to work effectively certainly is.

The weather in Melbourne is expected to be warm, with temperatures around the 23°C mark, and the race is forecast to be dry. However, with rain expected on Friday, the first taste of the slippy Albert Park circuit could prove expensive for many teams.

Bumpy, hot and fast, so mechanical reliability may be an issue for teams. For this reason, the Australian Grand Prix has gained a reputation for being a finishers' race.

Last years event saw Rubens Barrichello take two points, after qualifying 17th on the grid. Team mate Jenson Button astonished the watching audience and took pole position, but retired from the race just a few yards from the finish line, engine ablaze.

Previously, the team have fared well, with Jacques Villeneuve and Ricardo Zonta finishing in fourth and sixth places respectively back in 2000, while Jenson Button finished in the points in the 2003 race, securing sixth place for the team.

Honda drivers filled the podium of the 1988 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide, by not only powering the McLaren MP4/4 cars of Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna to the last of an unprecedented 10 one-two finishes that year, but also the Lotus 100T of Nelson Piquet to a brilliant third.