F1 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX: THE GOLDEN YEARS

As we gear up for the 2023 Formula One Rolex Australian Grand Prix this month, we look back on how the F1 circus made it to Australia for the inaugural World Championship round. This edited extract, from the latest motorsport book Formula One Down Under: Australian Grand Prix History, takes an historical drive down the road leading to the much-loved parklands street circuit in Adelaide in 1985 – yeah, long before the AGP shifted to Melbourne’s Albert Park…

IN THE BEGINNING… It’s fair to say the arrival of ‘fair dinkum Formula 1’ in Australia in the mid-1980s changed local motor racing forever. It’s also true that the Australian Grand Prix raised the benchmark for F1 events globally. The first Adelaide race in 1985 ran like clockwork, attracted a capacity crowd, put on a spectacular show and was rated the best Grand Prix of the year by Formula 1’s drivers, teams and top brass. The South Australian capital showed the world how to hold a street circuit event. After all, Aussies know how to host a party! Formula 1 was off to a flyer in this country – and it’s still soaring in its current home of Melbourne. The magic of Adelaide’s annual F1 round quickly spurred other state governments into…

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Maxim Australia (Digital) - 1 Issue, April 2023

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