2023 Australian Grand Prix

The **2023 Australian Grand Prix** was a Formula 1.5 motor race held on 2 April 2023 at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

The event set a new attendance record at the circuit for the weekend with 444,631 attending it, making it the most attended sporting event ever in Melbourne. It was the highest number since 440,000 attendance recorded at the 2022 United States Grand Prix. The Grand Prix broke the record for most red flags, with three.

## Background

The event was held across the weekend of 31 March – 2 April. It was the third round of the 2023 Formula 1.5 World Championship.

### Championship standings before the race

Going into the weekend, Pierre Gasly was leading the World Drivers' Championship with 36 points, 10 points from his teammate Esteban Ocon, second, and 11 from Valtteri Bottas in third. Alpine, with 62 points, led the Constructors' Championship from Haas and Alfa Romeo, who both had 37 and 36 points.

### Entrants

The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race.

### Tyres

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C2, C3, and C4 tyre compounds (designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively) for teams to use at the event.

### Track Changes

Following the 2021 redevelopment of the Albert Park Circuit and the removal of the turn 9–10 chicane, a fourth DRS zone was proposed and installed between turns 8 and 9. After the first day of practice session during the 2022 Australian Grand Prix weekend, the new DRS zone was scrapped due to safety concerns raised by some of the drivers. The Grand Prix chief Andrew Westacott told Melbourne's *Herald Sun* that the DRS zone would be reimplemented for this edition after receiving positive feedback from the FIA and Formula One. Compared to the previous edition when four DRS zones were initially added, the first DRS detection point was moved further back, being positioned 40 metres (130 ft) after turn 6. As a result, the first DRS activation point was moved further back, being positioned 130 metres (430 ft) after panel 11.

## Qualifying

Qualifying was held on 1 April 2023, starting at 16:00 local time (UTC+11). Alexander Albon took his maiden pole position in F1.5 for Williams. It was the first time the British team started on pole since the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix.

## Race

The race was held on 2 April 2023, starting at 15:00 local time (UTC+10).

On lap 7, Alexander Albon lost control of his car and crashed heavily at turn seven, causing the safety car to be called out. The race was red-flagged to allow marshals to clean up the debris left by Albon's car and gravel that had been strewn on track. The race was red-flagged once again on lap 55 after Kevin Magnussen's right-rear wheel made contact with the wall at turn two, damaging his rear suspension and causing the tyre to detach.

The race was restarted again with the Alpines of Gasly and Esteban Ocon ended their races in the wall after a heavy collision, and Nyck de Vries and Logan Sargeant found themselves in the gravel and out of the race. The race was red-flagged for a third time.

The marshals restarted the race on the final lap in the order of the previous start, minus the cars that had been eliminated, as the cars had not yet the reached the first timing line. The race resumed via rolling start at the end of lap 58, which coincided with the chequered flag being shown at the finish line; Lando Norris took his first win of the season, Hulkenberg returned to the podium for the first time since the 2020 70th Anniversary Grand Prix and Oscar Piastri took his maiden Formula 1.5 podium.

Two incidents involving spectators were reported after the race. After Magnussen crashed out of the race, a fan was struck by loose debris from the stricken Haas car, lacerating his arm. Another incident involved a crowd of spectators gaining unauthorised access to the track before the race had finished, causing a fourth red flag to be shown. The organisers of the Australian Grand Prix were found in breach of the FIA's sporting code.

## Championship Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Constructors' Championship standings

## External Links

1. ↑  Valtteri Bottas qualified 12th, but he was required to start the race from the pit lane as the setup of the suspension was changed while the car was under parc fermé.
2. ↑  Gasly was classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.
3. ↑  Includes one point for fastest lap.
4. ↑  Ocon was classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.
5. ↑  De Vries was classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.
6. ↑  Sargeant was classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.
7. ↑  Magnussen was classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.