Two rounds in and Red Bull has wiped out all competitors, finishing first and second in both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Max Verstappen won the opening lap before battling back in Saudi Arabia after starting 15th. Sergio Perez moved within one point of his Dutch team-mate after taking pole and winning in Jeddah.
Fernando Alonso has so far scored two podiums in a resurgent Aston Martin and is third in the standings with 30 points.
The third race of the year, the Australian Grand Prix is the last race for several weeks and takes place at Melbourne’s Albert Park and Verstappen is favorite to take a second win of the year. securing pole position in qualifying on Saturday, in front of Mercedes’ George Russell.
When is it?
The 2023 Australian Grand Prix weekend runs from Friday, March 31 to Sunday, April 2.
What time do the sessions start?
Friday March 31
First exercise – 2.30am BST
Second practice – 6 hours
Saturday April 1
Third practice – 2:30 am
Qualifying – 6 hours
Sunday April 2
Australian Grand Prix – 6 hours
What TV channel is it on?
Sky Sports F1 have almost exclusive live coverage rights in the UK this year and indeed for the next few years with their usual excellent team.
Sky’s qualifying program kicks off at 5.15am BST on Saturday, with their race coverage at 4.30am on Sunday.
Channel 4 also has extended highlights this year. Their qualifying replay starts at 11:15am on Saturday and their race highlights pack at 12:30pm on Sunday.
What were the times and standings after qualifying?
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Netherlands, 1 minute, 16.732 seconds.
- George Russell, Mercedes, Great Britain, 1:16.968
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Great Britain, 1:17.104
- Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin, Spain, 1:17.139
- Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, Spain, 1:17.270
- Lance Stroll, Aston Martin, Canada, 1:17.308
- Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Monaco, 1:17.369
- Alexander Albon, Williams, Thailand, 1:17.609
- Pierre Gasly, Alpine, France, 1:17.675.
- Nico Hulkenberg, Haas, Germany, 1:17.735
- Esteban Ocon, Alpine, France, 1:17.768
- Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri, Japan, 1:18.099
- Lando Norris, McLaren, Great Britain, 1:18.119
- Kevin Magnussen, Haas, Denmark, 1:18.129
- Nyck DeVries, AlphaTauri, Netherlands, 1:18.335
- Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Australia, 1:18.517
- Guanyu Zhou, Alfa Romeo, China, 1:18.540
- Logan Sargeant, Williams, USA, 1:18.557
- Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo, Finland, 1:18.714
- Sergio Perez, Red Bull, Mexico (no time)
What do we know about the Albert Park circuit?
- circuit length: 5,278km
- First Grand Prize: 1996
- laps: 58
- race distance: 306,124km
- Race lap record: 1:20.260 sec
- Number of corners: 14
- Overtaking opportunities: It’s not a track known for great racing, although additional DRS zones and while some corner redesigns have helped things a bit, they haven’t changed anything dramatically for the better.