The top 3 debuts in Albert Park's F1® history
Tuesday, 14 February 2023
Which drivers made their mark immediately in Melbourne? Here's our shortlist.
Formula 1® debutants in Melbourne: they're not hard to find, given the Albert Park circuit has played host to the opening race of the season 22 times in the 25 Australian Grands Prix since 1996. But which three drivers had the best debuts Down Under? That's a trickier question to tackle …
The list of drivers going on to make their mark after race one at Albert Park is like a who's who of the modern era. Six drivers who started here – Jacques Villeneuve (debuted in 1996), Jenson Button (2000), Fernando Alonso (2001), Kimi Raikkonen (2001), Lewis Hamilton (2007) and Max Verstappen (2015) – have subsequently become world champions.
Three drivers have scored podiums on debut, and one qualified on pole – we'll get to them – while 12 drivers scored points in Melbourne in their very first race (bonus points if you can name all 12, given the points system has changed three times since 1996 – check the bottom of this story for the answer).
This leads us to our best three debuts at Albert Park – but before we get there, three honourable mentions who didn't make the cut.
Kevin Magnussen is hard to leave out; after all, the Dane was second for McLaren in 2014 (he finished third but was promoted after Daniel Ricciardo was qualified). More incredibly, it's Magnussen's only podium finish some nine years later.
In 2001, Kimi Raikkonen finished fifth in his first Grand Prix for Sauber after having competed in just 23 car races – that's not a typo – before he reached F1®. In that same race, Fernando Alonso was 12th for Minardi, which doesn't sound like much until you consider Australian aviation entrepreneur Paul Stoddart purchased the struggling Italian team weeks before the race, and the team hadn't even tested their car ...
So, here – in reverse order – are our top three debuts at Albert Park.
3rd place: Jacques Villeneuve (1996, Williams)
Started: 1st Finished: 2nd
Villeneuve was a month shy of his 25th birthday when he made his F1® debut in Melbourne's first race, and was hardly a typical rookie – he spent 1995 winning the IndyCar championship and the Indy 500 in the United States. He very nearly won on his F1® debut too; in a Williams that was the class of the field, the Canadian qualified on pole, led for 50 of the 58 laps, and only ceded the lead to teammate Damon Hill after a late-race oil leak meant he had to back off. Better was to come, and quickly: by the end of 1997, Villeneuve was F1® world champion.
2nd place: Lewis Hamilton (2007, McLaren)
Started: 4th Finished: 3rd
If this list was 'best first corner of a debut race', Hamilton wins hands-down; the Briton swept past McLaren teammate (and reigning two-time world champion) Fernando Alonso soon after the lights went out, the gasp from the Albert Park crowd audible over the din of a grid full of V8s. Hamilton led for four laps, and spent all 58 laps in the podium places. Somehow, a driver who came in as the highest-rated rookie in years exceeded that hype after one corner of his debut. Seven world titles and 103 race wins later, Hamilton has kicked on from there …
1st place: Mark Webber (2002, Minardi)
Started: 18th Finished: 5th
Yes, we're biased. But for the masses who packed into Albert Park to see an Australian on the Melbourne F1® grid for the first time, 2002 will never be forgotten. An opening-lap crash that eliminated nearly half the field helped, but the tension in the final laps as Mika Salo's Toyota hunted Webber down for fifth place was palpable. When Salo spun at Turn 3 allowing Webber to escape, the 126,000-strong crowd in attendance roared. Two points were Minardi's first in over three years, and Webber – on a three-race make-good contract – started a run of Aussie drivers on the grid that hasn't stopped for 21 years, spanning Webber to Red Bull successor Ricciardo, and from Ricciardo to Webber's protégé, Oscar Piastri. Best Melbourne debut? No Aussie has officially made the Albert Park podium, but this Aussie makes the top step of our 'best debuts' rostrum.
The 12 drivers who scored points on debut in Melbourne
1996: Jacques Villeneuve (Williams, 2nd)
1999: Pedro de la Rosa (Arrows, 6th)
2001: Kimi Raikkonen (Sauber, 6th)
2002: Mark Webber (Minardi, 5th)
2007: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren, 3rd)
2008: Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso, 7th)
2009: Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso, 7th)
2011: Paul di Resta (Force India, 10th)
2014: Kevin Magnussen (McLaren, 2nd)
2014: Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso, 9th)
2015: Felipe Nasr (Sauber, 5th)
2015: Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso, 9th)
(Sergio Perez crossed the line in seventh for Sauber in 2011, but was disqualified).
Points structure changes:
1996-2002: 1st (10 points) 2nd (6) 3rd (4) 4th (3) 5th (2) 6th (1)
2003-09: 1st (10 points) 2nd (8) 3rd (6) 4th (5) 5th (4) 6th (3) 7th (2) 8th (1)
2010 on: 1st (25 points) 2nd (18) 3rd (15) 4th (12) 5th (10) 6th (8) 7th (6) 8th (4) 9th (2) 10th (1)
