The Australian GP is right around the corner marking the 34th time that the venue has held the F1 event in the calendar. Along with the excitement, the Albert Park circuit will also bring an odd ‘Aussie curse.’
There is a common saying in F1 – all F1 drivers want to win at Monaco and their home races. While the Australian drivers have been able to achieve the former part of the saying, the latter is yet to be fulfilled.
Ever since the inaugural F1 race in 1950, there have been 15 Australian drivers that have started at least one race. Two of these drivers, Jack Brabham and Alan Jones, have even won championships. Despite that, no driver from the down under has yet secured even a podium at their home track, let alone winning a race.
Heading into the 2023 Australian Grand Prix, there is a young rookie Aussie driver, Oscar Piastri. But it remains to be seen if he can break the dry spell suffered by his compatriots.
Unlikely for Oscar Piastri to overcome the curse
Piastri made his way into F1 causing a lot of chaos in the paddock. The young Aussie replaced his compatriot, Daniel Ricciardo in McLaren and has taken a seat next to Lando Norris.
Building on pre-season performance, McLaren has gotten way worse with their development. The Woking-based team has fallen to the bottom of the grid.
The team even reported that they will hold this pattern until their major upgrade, which is set to arrive at the Azerbaijan GP at the end of April. McLaren hopes that this upgrade will help them progress further into the higher midfield.
Given the disappointing results drawn from the team’s performance in the first two races of the season, it seems extremely unlikely for Piastri to overcome the curse. So much so that it would be a great result for the team if either driver manages to finish within points in the upcoming race.
Although having brought Piastri to the team after a lot of chaos, the team is quite impressed with his performance. Piastri showed a tenacious approach in Saudi Arabian GP qualifying and placed himself P9 for the race day, just one place behind Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.
Former Australian drivers who came close to the podium
For the most renowned Australian drivers of contemporary times, Jack Brabham and Alan Jones, things did not work out well. Brabham, a 3-time world champion, did not even get a chance to participate in a home race as the inaugural Australian GP was first held in 1985.
On the other hand, while Jones who won the title in 1980, got the chance twice to partake, he retired on both occasions. Later in the 1990s, Brabham’s son David participated in the race held in Adelaide in 1990 and 1994 but failed to finish either of his two races.
Then came Mark Webber in 2002. Driving an underperforming Minardi, the Aussie driver brought home a shocking P5 finish. While it was not one of the top three podium positions, it did come as a shock to both Webber and his team boss at the time and they had an impromptu podium celebration.
Following the unprecedented result of the 2002 Australian GP, which saw 14 drivers retire by the time of chequered flag, the chairman of the Australian GP persuaded Webber and Stoddart to celebrate on the stage. This led to a fine of £50,000(approx $128,000 today, as per inflation).
In 2014, Daniel Ricciardo came close to the podium. He finished P2 in the first race of the turbo-hybrid era but was later disqualified from the race. This happened because the Red Bull car at the time exceeded the legal fuel flow rate of 100 kilos an hour.
