What City Is The Australian Grand Prix In?

The Australian Grand Prix is held in Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, at the Albert Park Circuit, a temporary street track built around Albert Park Lake a few minutes from the city centre. Melbourne has hosted the race since 1996, when it took over from Adelaide, and its current contract keeps Formula 1 in the city until at least 2035.

• Melbourne has hosted the Australian Grand Prix since 1996, after the race moved from Adelaide.
• The race is run at the Albert Park Circuit, a temporary 5.278 kilometre track around Albert Park Lake.
• A grand prix distance is 58 laps, a total of 306.124 kilometres.
• Melbourne’s hosting contract runs until at least 2035.
• The 2022 edition alone generated an estimated $81.4 million for the Victorian economy.

Why Is the Australian Grand Prix Held in Melbourne?

Formula 1’s Australian round predates Melbourne by decades. The race began at Phillip Island in 1928 and later ran at Adelaide, which hosted it as a championship event from 1985. Melbourne took over in 1996, and the push behind it was as much civic as sporting: Victoria had just lost its bid to host the 1996 Olympics to Atlanta, and premier Jeff Kennett saw a Formula 1 round as a fast way to restore the state’s standing as a major sporting destination. The race has been run at Melbourne every year since.

What Is the Albert Park Circuit?

Albert Park is a temporary circuit, built each year on public roads around the lake and dismantled again once the race weekend ends. It measures 5.278 kilometres, and a grand prix there covers 58 laps for a race distance of 306.124 kilometres. The layout was reworked in 2022, removing several corners to improve overtaking and increase average speed, and Sergio Perez set the current outright lap record on the revised track in 2023.

A closer look at the circuit’s layout and history lives at Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit.

How Long Is Melbourne’s F1 Contract?

Melbourne’s deal with Formula 1 runs until at least 2035, giving the Australian Grand Prix long-term certainty on the calendar rather than the shorter cycles some other rounds negotiate.

What Impact Does the Grand Prix Have on Melbourne?

The race is a significant earner for Victoria. The 2022 Australian Grand Prix alone brought in an estimated $81.4 million, with ticket sales and hospitality contributing $56 million of that total, and it remains one of the state’s largest single sporting events by attendance. Beyond the balance sheet, it is also one of the few events that puts Melbourne in front of a genuinely global broadcast audience for a full race weekend each year.

Australian Grand Prix FAQs

Reviewed by Jack Renn, July 2026

More F1 Reading

• Has Max Verstappen Ever Won The Australian Grand Prix?
• Is The F1 In Melbourne Every Year?
• How Many Different Venues Has the Australian Grand Prix Been Held At?
• Where Is The Australian Grand Prix Held?

Written by

Jarrod Partridge

Jarrod Partridge is the Co-Founder of F1 Chronicle and an FIA accredited journalist with over 30 years of experience following Formula 1. A member of the AIPS International Sports Press Association, Jarrod has covered F1 races at circuits around the world, bringing first-hand insight to every race report, driver profile, and technical analysis he writes.

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