March 4 : Formula One statistics for Sunday’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne’s Albert Park:
Lap distance: 5.278km. Total distance: 306.124km (58 laps)
2025 pole position: Lando Norris (Britain) McLaren one minute 15.096 seconds
2025 winner: Norris
Race lap record: Charles Leclerc (Monaco) Ferrari 1:19.830 (2024)
NOTE: The circuit was shortened by 28 metres, with two turns taken out and seven corners modified, in 2022.
Start time: 0400 GMT (1500 local)
AUSTRALIA
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri is the only Australian driver in the race and no Australian has won a home grand prix.
This year’s race will be the 29th at Albert Park, and 40th in Australia. The Australian round was held in Adelaide, as the season-ender, between 1985 and 1995.
Although Melbourne is celebrating 30 years since it first hosted F1, the 2020 and 2021 rounds were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Seven of the current drivers have won in Melbourne: Fernando Alonso (2006), Lewis Hamilton (2008, 2015), Valtteri Bottas (2019), Charles Leclerc (2022), Max Verstappen (2023), Carlos Sainz (2024), Norris (2025).
Ferrari great Michael Schumacher won a record four times in Australia.
Hamilton has been on pole in Melbourne a record eight times (2008, 2012, 2014-2019). He made his F1 debut in Australia with McLaren in 2007.
McLaren have won12 times in Australia (seven in Melbourne), more than any other team overall.
The lowest-placed starter to win was Britain’s Eddie Irvine from 11th in 1999 for Ferrari.
Nineteen of the 28 races in Melbourne have been won from the front row.
RACE WINS
Hamilton has a record 105 career victories from 380 starts.
Verstappen has won 71 grands prix and is third on the all-time list after Schumacher on 91.
POLE POSITION
Hamilton has a record 104 career poles, his most recent in Hungary in 2023.
ROOKIES
Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad is the sole rookie this season.
TEAMS
With Cadillac’s debut, there will be 11 teams on the starting grid for the first time since 2016.
MILESTONES
Hamilton is starting his 20th season in Formula One.
Isack Hadjar becomes the 15th driver to race for Red Bull since the team debuted 21 years ago.
Red Bull strategist Hannah Schmitz and Haas race engineer Laura Mueller are set to become the first women to have a corner of a circuit named in their honour. Turn Six will be dedicated to them on Sunday, International Women’s Day.
