{"id":3736,"date":"2018-03-22T15:50:07","date_gmt":"2018-03-22T19:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=3736"},"modified":"2018-03-22T15:54:48","modified_gmt":"2018-03-22T19:54:48","slug":"f1-2018-preview-of-the-australian-grand-prix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2018\/03\/22\/f1-2018-preview-of-the-australian-grand-prix\/","title":{"rendered":"F1 2018 – Preview of the Australian Grand Prix"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2018 Formula 1 season<\/strong><\/a> starts with the Australian Grand Prix<\/strong> at Albert Park<\/strong>, Melbourne<\/strong> this weekend (March 23-25, 2018). The home of the race has been the tight street circuit around the Albert Park Lake in Melbourne from 1996. This is the 23rd <\/sup>running of the race here. This is the 21st<\/sup> time the Grand Prix is being run at Melbourne as the opening race of the season (exceptions were in 2006 and 2010).<\/p>\n

Preview of the Australian Grand Prix<\/h1>\n

The History<\/h2>\n

The inaugural Australian Grand Prix was held in 1985 on a street circuit in the Australian city of Adelaide<\/strong>. The race in Adelaide was traditionally the last race of the season. The inaugural race there was won by Keke Rosberg<\/strong> for Williams. The Grand Prix became a popular venue for drivers and teams and took root in Australia. When the race moved from South Australia to Melbourne<\/strong>, the capital of Victoria, it became the opening race of the season. The first race in 1996 here was won by Damon Hill<\/strong> for Williams.<\/p>\n

The Teams and Drivers<\/h2>\n

McLaren<\/strong> is on top of the leaderboard with 11 wins at the Australian GP so far. Ferrari<\/strong> with eight wins is second. Williams<\/strong> with five wins is the other team which has enjoyed the most success \u201cdown under\u201d. Mercedes<\/strong> has won the title in the first three years of the hybrid engine era (2014-2016).<\/p>\n

Michael Schumacher<\/strong> is the most prolific winner with four wins (2000, 2001, 2002, 2004) at the current venue. The great German won his first drivers\u2019 championship in 1994 in controversial fashion by one point over Damon Hill<\/strong> at the Australian GP held in Adelaide.<\/p>\n

Fernando Alonso<\/strong> (2006), Kimi Raikkonen<\/strong> (2007, 2013), Lewis Hamilton<\/strong> (2008, 2015) and Sebastian Vettel<\/strong> (2011,2017) are the drivers on the current grid who have won at Albert Park. The rookie brigade of Charles Leclerc (Sauber), Sergey Sirotkin (Williams) will be excited and nervous in equal parts. No Australian has ever won this home Grand Prix. Daniel Ricciardo<\/strong> will try to end this drought on Sunday.<\/p>\n

The Circuit<\/h2>\n