Guide to the third round of 2023 F1 season, which sees the grid head Down Under to Melbourne, Australia for the 2023 Australian Grand Prix.
Although the home crowd won’t have Daniel Ricciardo to cheer on this year following his decision to depart McLaren at end of last season, they will have a rookie hometown hero to cheer on in Oscar Piastri who replaced Ricciardo at McLaren.
Up front, Red Bull will be looking to continue their strong start to the season but know that Aston Martin, Mercedes and Ferrari will be eager to make up ground, especially if any of the latter three teams want to mount a challenge for the drivers’ title this campaign.
Now, here is everything that you need to know ahead of 2023 Australian Grand Prix.
Track Guide
Circuit: Albert Park Circuit
Laps: 58
Race Distance: 306.240km
Tyre Compounds: C2, C3 & C4
Schedule
| Date | Session | Time (BST) |
| Friday 31 March | FP1 | 2:30am |
| Friday 31 March | FP2 | 6:00am |
| Saturday 1 April | FP3 | 2:30am |
| Saturday 1 April | Qualifying | 6:00am |
| Sunday 2 April | Race | 6:00am |
Five Key Pointers
- Red Bull enter this round as hot favourites but they face a tricky task in terms of driver management, after Perez dominated Saudi Arabia but Verstappen snatched fastest lap to stay top of standings.
- Having often challenged Red Bull on one lap pace in Practice sessions this season but lost pace in Qualifying, Aston Martin will be hoping to close the gap with a stronger performance Down Under.
- With a fourth DRS zone at Turn 9 set to be reintroduced after only being activated for Friday Practice in 2022 due to safety concerns, expect there to be more overtaking opportunities.
- Following a technical staff revamp after Saudi Arabia, McLaren will be hoping for a positive result to ignite their season after two difficult opening races.
- With F2 and F3 also racing in Australia for the very first time alongside the traditional V8 Supercars, there could be stronger track evolution for F1 cars than seen in previous trips Down Under.
Last Time Out
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc comfortably led from lights-to-flag unchallenged to clinch victory Down Under in 2022, as Perez finished second after he benefitted from a power unit failure for Verstappen whilst George Russell claimed his first podium as a Mercedes driver in third place.