Australian GP Facts & Figures

By Andrew Hooper
February 28 2003

 

 

  
Facts & Figures
 
 * The city of Melbourne lies on the eastern south coast of Australia and is the capital of the state of Victoria. The city covers an area of 7,280 sq kilometres and is home to 3.2 million people. Melbourne's economic and political centre is located within the municipal boundaries of the City of Melbourne, an area of 36.5 sq kilometres that encompasses the Central Business District, some of Melbourne's most historic suburbs, the Southbank precinct as well as most of Melbourne's famous sporting venues and its famous parks and gardens. With its strategic position in the Asia Pacific region, Melbourne is also the nation’s transport hub.

* The circuit sits in Albert Park and is bordered the Albert Park Lake. As Melbourne has been experiencing unseasonably low rainfall, the park has been sprayed with 112,000 litres of water on 17th of February which were been made available after the end of a swimming pool and spa expo at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre.

* 2003 is the eighth year in succession that Melbourne has hosted a Grand Prix. In previous years, the home of the Australian Grand Prix was Adelaide, where WilliamsF1 scored four victories. In Melbourne, Damon Hill claimed WilliamsF1’s solitary victory in 1996.

* The BMW WilliamsF1 Team has a mixed record on the street circuit, scoring a podium in 2000 when Ralf Schumacher raced from 11th on the grid to 3rd place to inaugurate the new partnership between BMW and WilliamsF1. The start to the 2001 season was not as successful, with both cars retiring before the finish. In 2002, Juan Pablo Montoya finished in a strong second position, while Ralf Schumacher retired from the race after a dramatic accident with Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari) at the very first corner. Ralf qualified for third position in 2002, Juan Pablo was sixth on the grid.

* The circuit length of the Albert Park is 5.303 km (3.296 miles), the race distance is 58 laps or 307.574 km (191,158 miles).

* Relatively low tyre degradation is expected for Melbourne. The BMW WilliamsF1 Team pit stop strategy last year was a single stop.

* The Grand Prix commences at 1400hrs local on Sunday, March 9 -0300hrs UTC, 0400 hrs in Central Europe.

* Following the introduction of the new regulations, two qualifying sessions will be held, with each driver running for one lap on Friday and Saturday respectively. The order for Friday’s qualifying session will be the order of the 2002 final championship standings. For final qualifying on Saturday, drivers will start in reverse order of Friday’s times. Both qualifying sessions will start at 1400hrs local.

* Winner of the 2002 Australian Grand Prix was Michael Schumacher in a Ferrari F2002. He is also holder of the current lap record (1m28.214s). The 2002 pole position was taken by his team mate Rubens Barrichello (1m25.843s). Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren-Mercedes) recorded the fastest race lap at the circuit last year (1m28.541s)
 
 
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