Australian Grand Prix 2026

Albert Park in the heart of Melbourne was a motorsport venue long before Formula 1 arrived: in 1953 and 1956 the park hosted non-championship Australian races on a shorter, anticlockwise layout, after which the circuit was returned to parkland for decades. Motorsport only came back for good in 1996, when the Australian Grand Prix moved from Adelaide to Melbourne and Albert Park became a semi-permanent street circuit around the lake of the same name.

The event is run by the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, which has organised the race since the move from Adelaide. After several contract extensions, a 2022 agreement secured Melbourne’s place on the calendar until at least 2035, and just months later the deal was extended further to 2037. That makes Albert Park one of the longest-contracted venues on the current Formula 1 calendar.

The layout was substantially reworked for the 2022 season: turns 9 and 10 were replaced by a straight, turns 11 and 12 were softened, and the pit lane was widened. The number of corners dropped from 16 to 14, while lap times fell by around five seconds. Albert Park has since been known as a fast but slippery circuit, with many flowing corner combinations and traditionally little run-off beyond the asphalt.

Ferrari leads the winners’ list with ten victories since 1996, ahead of McLaren and Mercedes, and no driver has won here more often than Michael Schumacher, who took four victories between 1994 and 2004. In 2025 Melbourne returned to the top of the calendar as the season opener: Lando Norris won for McLaren ahead of Max Verstappen and George Russell, McLaren’s first win in Melbourne since Jenson Button in 2012. Safety car periods are common on the tight circuit, which regularly makes racing at Albert Park unpredictable.