Formula One News

Brief History

Formula One officially came to Australia in 1985, although the race wasn’t held in Melbourne, instead it was raced on a street circuit in Adelaide up until 1995.

The 1996 Australian Formula One Grand Prix, saw it move to a rebuilt Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne and has been there ever since. A agreement had been reach with Formula One in 1993, after the newly elected premier of the State of Victoria, Jeff Kennett, had set about
improving Melbourne’s profile. With the Australian Grand Prix being on top of his list to get moved there.

However, the contract with Adelaide did not expire until 1995, which wasn’t a problem as is gave Kennett plenty of time to prepare. Although, the rebuild of Albert Park wasn’t that straightforward, as protesters from the “Save Albert Park” group did everything in their
power to disrupt the move.

Since then the race has become very popular with drivers and fans alike. The circuit is street based and only a couple of kilometres south of central Melbourne. The track uses everyday sections of road around Albert Park’s man-made lake, and comes to life about four weeks prior to
the race, when workmen start to erect all the barriers, grandstands etc. and are again all removed within two weeks after the race.