Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit to celebrate 70th Year in 2023
Tuesday, 28 February 2023
The first Grand Prix track to be built in a metro Australian city.
70 years have passed since Albert Park first hosted an Australian Grand Prix in 1953, and as the FORMULA 1 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX 2023 draws closer, several of the iconic cars which competed in the first race have returned to the circuit.
The first Grand Prix track to be built in a metro Australian city, the race of November 1953 saw 40 drivers take on the 64-lap race, totalling 322 kilometres of battle surrounding Albert Park Lake, with only hay bales serving as safety barriers.
Doug Whiteford achieved victory in a Talbot-Lago with an incredible six-lap lead, passing the finish line with a 2:24:50 time and setting the pace for the decades of racing to come at Albert Park.
To celebrate the milestone year, former Supercars Champion John Bowe and Motorsport Australia Director of Race Operations and former Formula 1® driver Tim Schenken took to the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit in two cars from the 1953 event.
The former drivers were in awe of the 1953 Curly Brydon, which placed runners-up to Whiteford’s Talbot-Lago at the inaugural Albert Park Grand Prix and the Maybach Mk1, which set the fastest lap in the same year and was driven by father of F1® World Driver’s Champion Alan Jones, Stan Jones.
Winding back the clock, the former racing drivers each got behind the wheel of the 1953 race cars, revved the engines and raced down Pit Lane as no time had passed at all.
Melbourne crowds have witnessed greatness time and time again on track, both in the early days and in the modern era of Formula 1®. Only two drivers have become four-time Australian Grand Prix champions, as Lex Davison topped the podium in 1954, 1957, 1958 and 1961 and Michael Schumacher dominated the circuit from 2000-2002 and in 2004.
Since the first race in 1953, entering Formula 1® in 1996 and to the present day, the track has seen the evolution of racing unfold, with car speeds increasing by more than 120km/h. The first circuit modifications since ’96 were also introduced ahead of the 2022 race, making for faster average qualifying lap times of approximately five seconds.
Albert Park has also hosted major support categories throughout the years, with the Supercars Championship, the Porsche Carrera Cup and the S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship all regular features at the event.
Motorsport fans will have the chance to step back in time and enjoy the rich history of the racing vehicles as Shannon’s Historic Demonstration returns to Albert Park for its third year at the FORMULA 1 AUSTRALIAN ROLEX GRAND PRIX 2023.
