The 2022 race was the 85th edition of the Australian Grand Prix, the 36th as a World Championship round, and the 25th held at Albert Park. It was the first Australian Grand Prix since 2019; the 2020 event was cancelled hours before the opening practice session as the COVID-19 pandemic began, and the 2021 edition was also cancelled due to the pandemic's ongoing impact in Australia. The weekend drew a then-record attendance of 419,144 for the circuit, the most attended sporting event ever held in Melbourne to that point.
Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel made his season debut, having missed the first two rounds due to coronavirus and been replaced by Nico Hülkenberg. Charles Leclerc led the Drivers' Championship entering the weekend, 20 points ahead of Max Verstappen and 12 ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz Jr.
Albert Park underwent its most significant modifications since the inaugural 1996 race, including a full resurfacing. Turns 9 and 10 were redesigned from a slow right-left chicane into a much faster combination, raising approach speeds for turns 11 and 12. Turn 13 was widened and given positive camber to create additional racing lines and encourage overtaking. The pit lane wall was moved two metres closer to the circuit — a change motivated by Daniel Ricciardo's 2019 opening-lap accident involving an unseen culvert — and the pit lane speed limit was consequently raised from 60 km/h to 80 km/h. A fourth DRS zone was initially added to the redesigned layout but was removed before the third practice session following safety concerns raised at the drivers' briefing, primarily by Fernando Alonso. Red Bull Racing was the only team to oppose the removal.
Charles Leclerc secured pole position ahead of Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez. Alexander Albon, who had qualified 16th, was disqualified after the required one-litre fuel sample could not be extracted from his Williams during post-qualifying scrutineering; he was permitted to race at the stewards' discretion. Valtteri Bottas's streak of 103 consecutive Q3 appearances came to an end. Carlos Sainz Jr. qualified ninth after an Alonso crash red-flagged his first Q3 attempt and subsequent car starting problems compromised his warm-up lap.
The 58-lap race started at 15:00 local time. Carlos Sainz Jr. suffered an anti-stall problem at the start and fell to 14th by lap 2; attempting to pass Mick Schumacher at turn 10, he spun and retired, bringing out the safety car. At the restart, Leclerc maintained the lead ahead of Verstappen, while Pérez — briefly passed by Lewis Hamilton at the start — recovered third using DRS at turn 3 by lap 10.
On lap 24, an accident involving Sebastian Vettel triggered a second safety car. George Russell, who had not yet pitted when most of the field had, used the safety car period to make his stop, rejoining in third behind Leclerc and Verstappen. When racing resumed on lap 27, Verstappen challenged Leclerc for the lead at turn 1 but could not find a way through. Pérez rejoined fifth after the safety car but climbed back to third by lap 37, following a brief battle with Russell who was instructed by the team not to fight his teammate.
On lap 39, Verstappen retired from second place due to a fuel issue causing a fire in his Red Bull — his last retirement until coincidentally the 2024 Australian Grand Prix. A virtual safety car was deployed. In the closing laps, Hamilton chased Russell for third but was forced to manage overheating and could not make a move. Alexander Albon ran his hard compound tyres for 57 laps before making his compulsory stop, finishing tenth to score Williams's first point of the 2022 season. Leclerc crossed the line to win, adding fastest lap on the final tour to complete the grand slam. Pérez and Russell completed the podium, giving Russell his second career podium.
Leclerc's victory extended his Drivers' Championship lead to 34 points, while Russell moved to second overall. Verstappen, suffering his second DNF in three races, fell to sixth and 46 points behind the lead — a deficit he would ultimately overturn to win the 2022 World Championship, breaking the record for the largest points gap overturned in a single season. Ferrari maintained their lead in the Constructors' Championship with 104 points, 39 ahead of Mercedes and 49 ahead of Red Bull.
Leclerc's performance drew contemporary comparisons to Michael Schumacher's grand slam at the 2004 Australian Grand Prix, also at Albert Park.
Gallery · 1 related image
