Start, Albert Park, Melbourne, 2019

Melbourne extends Australian Grand Prix contract to 2025

2019 F1 season

Posted on

| Written by

The Australian Grand Prix will remain at Melbourne until at least the end of 2025 after Formula 1 Management confirmed a two-year extension on its current deal.

The Albert Park Circuit became the host of the season-opening round of the world championship in 1996. The 2020 F1 season will begin at the circuit in March.

It has held every season-opening race in the intervening period with two exception, in 2006 and 2010 when the honour went to Bahrain. Melbourne took over from Adelaide as the venue for Australia’s F1 race.

“The decision to extend the current relationship for a further two years stems from the fact this event has proved to be a resounding success for the capital of Victoria, for Australia and indeed around the world, proving immensely popular with fans and those who work in Formula 1,” said Formula 1 CEO Chase Carey.

“Working along with our partner, the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, we plan to make the Australian Grand Prix even more exciting and spectacular, as a sporting event and as a form of entertainment.”

Victorian Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Martin Pakula said the decision was a “vote of confidence from Formula 1”.

“Beyond the direct benefits to Melbourne and Victoria arising out of Formula 1’s decision, the contract extension until 2025 also provides benefits and confidence for Victoria’s events industry and the associated supplier base to the AGPC. Additionally, it provides the AGPC with opportunities to further enhance and develop the event for the benefit of all fans and lovers of the sport of Formula 1.”

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

2019 F1 season

Browse all 2019 F1 season articles

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

7 comments on “Melbourne extends Australian Grand Prix contract to 2025”

  1. Neil (@neilosjames)
    18th July 2019, 22:04

    Can’t say I’m overly excited, as it’s one of my least-favourite tracks.

    But… don’t mind too much as long as it stays at the start of the season, so I can be excited by the new cars if little else.

    1. Australia seems to fill the season opener hole well, so it makes sense. I suspect when the contract expires in 2025 that we might see the Australian Grand Prix held at Gold Coast instead of Melbourne, similar to the old IndyCar circuit, with adjustments obviously.

      1. My mistake, that wasn’t meant to be a reply!

  2. Not my favourite track, but nevertheless a good place for opening the season. Also, correct me if I’m wrong, but if they don’t happen to change the track layout, then by 2025 Melbourne will have hosted the race on exactly the same layout for 30 years – surely a record and makes for a good place to compare speeds in the various eras.

  3. I didn’t see this coming all of a sudden now while still no official confirmation on the respective futures of Monza (has looked likely to stay for a while, though), Circuit de Catalunya (at present looks likely to drop), Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez (at present looks more likely to remain than drop), and Hockenheimring (at present looks likely to drop.) I’ve begun to form an idea of how the race calendar for next season could/might look like based on these situations as well as Baku’s attempt to get a slot from the first-half of June combined with the plan to hold the British GP in late-June, etc.

  4. As a local that has attended the race for over a decade I can say that it is a tremendous event… But a terrible track.

Comments are closed.