Middle Park (stadium)

The 2002 Australian Grand Prix (formally the 2002 Foster's Australian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 3 March 2002 at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Albert Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. With 127,000 people in attendance, the race was the first of the 2002 Formula One World Championship and the 18th Australian Grand Prix in Formula One. Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher won the 58-lap race starting from second position. Juan Pablo Montoya of Williams finished second and Kimi Räikkönen took third for the McLaren team. Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello qualified on pole position by recording the fastest lap in qualifying. He retired at the start of the race, when he braked early for the first corner, catching out Williams driver Ralf Schumacher, who hit the rear of Barrichello's car. Six drivers were involved in a separate incident. The safety car was deployed for four laps to clear the track. McLaren's David Coulthard led the first ten laps until an error on lap eleven allowed Michael Schumacher to pass him. Montoya then passed Schumacher for first place at the beginning of lap twelve. He kept the lead until he ran wide and Michael Schumacher overtook him to reclaim it. He led the rest of the race to take the 54th win of his career. Following this, the first round of the season, Michael Schumacher left Australia leading the World Drivers' Championship with ten points. Montoya was four points behind in second with Räikkönen third. In the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari led with ten points followed by Williams and McLaren with sixteen races left in the season.

The Albert Park Circuit is a motorsport street circuit around Albert Park Lake, three kilometres south of central Melbourne. It is used annually as a circuit for the Formula One Australian Grand Prix, the supporting Supercars Championship Melbourne 400 and other associated support races. The circuit has an FIA Grade 1 license.Although the entire track consists of normally public roads, each sector includes medium to high-speed characteristics more commonly associated with dedicated racetracks facilitated by grass and gravel run-off safety zones that are reconstructed annually. However, the circuit also has characteristics of a street circuit's enclosed nature due to concrete barriers annually built along the Lakeside Drive curve, in particular, where run-off is not available due to the proximity of the lake shore.

The 2008 Australian Grand Prix (officially known as the 2008 Formula 1 ING Australian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 16 March 2008 at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia. It was the first race of the 2008 Formula One season. In qualifying for the event, Lewis Hamilton for the McLaren team started from pole position ahead of Robert Kubica in the BMW Sauber by 0.15 seconds. The 58-lap race featured three safety car interruptions due to collisions on lap 1, 26, and 42. A high rate of attrition meant that only 7 cars of the 22 participants finished the race, with six being classified after sixth place Rubens Barrichello was disqualified for exiting the pit lane illegally. Of the six, Hamilton lead most of the race and finished first ahead of Nick Heidfeld in second in a BMW Sauber and Nico Rosberg in third in a Williams. This was Rosberg's first podium finish. In winning the race, Hamilton and McLaren led the Drivers' Championship and Constructors Championship, respectively. This event also marked the first race in seven years, since the 2001 San Marino Grand Prix, not to feature cars competing using traction control, which was banned by the FIA at the end of 2007.

The 2001 Australian Grand Prix (officially the LXVI Qantas Australian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 4 March 2001 at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit in Albert Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, before a crowd of 128,500 people. It was the first round of the 2001 Formula One World Championship and the 16th Australian Grand Prix that counted towards the Formula One World Championship. Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher won the 58-lap race from pole position. David Coulthard of the McLaren team finished second and Schumacher's teammate Rubens Barrichello third. It was Schumacher's fifth consecutive victory in Formula One and the 45th of his career. Michael Schumacher won the 33rd pole position of his career by recording the fastest lap in qualifying. He maintained the lead until a major accident on lap five involving Williams' Ralf Schumacher and British American Racing (BAR) driver Jacques Villeneuve resulted in the death of spectator marshal Graham Beveridge, who was struck in the chest by Villeneuve's right-rear wheel. The incident necessitated deploying the safety car. The race restarted eleven laps later with Michael Schumacher in first place until the pit stop phase for fuel and tyres. Coulthard led for three laps until his stop before Michael Schumacher regained the lead which he maintained to win the race. Graham Beveridge was the second marshal to die from injuries sustained during a Formula One race after Paolo Gislimberti at the 2000 Italian Grand Prix just under six months before. His death was investigated by the sport's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), who concluded it was a "freak accident". A coroner's report concluded the organisers of the race, the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, were responsible for the accident and it was "avoidable". Following this, Michael Schumacher left Australia as the leader of the World Drivers' Championship with ten points. Coulthard was four points behind in second and Barrichello a further two adrift in third. Nick Heidfeld of Sauber and Jordan's Heinz-Harald Frentzen were fourth and fifth. In the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari led with fourteen points and McLaren were second with eight points. Sauber and Jordan followed in third and fourth with sixteen races left in the season.

The 2004 Australian Grand Prix (officially the 2004 Foster's Australian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 7 March 2004 at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit. It was Race 1 of 18 in the 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship. Michael Schumacher won the race for Ferrari from pole position in dominant fashion, with his teammate Rubens Barrichello finishing behind him in second. This 1–2 finish gave Ferrari a strong 9-point lead in the constructors' standings after just one race. Williams and Renault each had both cars finish in the points while McLaren, a team that had enjoyed success in years preceding this, only managed one point, with David Coulthard finishing a lapped 8th.This race marked the first time since the 2001 San Marino Grand Prix that cars competed without using fully-automatic gearboxes and launch control, which were both banned by the FIA after the 2003 season. The use of traction control was still permitted by the FIA, and would continue to be used over the next three seasons, until being banned for the 2008 season.

The 2003 Australian Grand Prix (formally the 2003 Foster's Australian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 9 March 2003 at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit. The race was won by McLaren driver David Coulthard, who took the 13th and final race victory of his Formula One career.

The 2007 Australian Grand Prix (officially the 2007 Formula 1 ING Australian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 18 March 2007 at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia. It was the first race of the 2007 Formula One season. The 58 lap race was won by Kimi Räikkönen for the Ferrari team after starting from pole position. Fernando Alonso finished second in a McLaren car, with teammate Lewis Hamilton third on his Grand Prix debut. Räikkönen started the race alongside Alonso, but in the start Alonso was passed by BMW Sauber driver Nick Heidfeld and Hamilton, who started third and fourth. Räikkönen controlled the race from the front of the field, with Alonso regaining second place after overtaking Hamilton during the second round of pit stops.

The 2005 Australian Grand Prix (officially the 2005 Formula 1 Foster's Australian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit on 6 March 2005. It was the first round of the 2005 Formula One season. The 58-lap race was won by Renault driver Giancarlo Fisichella after he started from pole position. Rubens Barrichello finished second for the Ferrari team and Fisichella's team-mate Fernando Alonso came in third.

The 2009 Australian Grand Prix (formally the 2009 Formula 1 ING Australian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 29 March 2009 at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia. It was the first race of the 2009 Formula One World Championship. The 58-lap race was won by Jenson Button for the Brawn GP team after starting from pole position. Rubens Barrichello finished second in the other Brawn GP car, with Jarno Trulli third for Toyota. Brawn GP became the first constructor since Mercedes-Benz at the 1954 French Grand Prix to qualify on pole position, and then go on to win the race on their Grand Prix debut. The race also became the second race in Formula One history to finish under stabilised safety car conditions—after the 1999 Canadian Grand Prix—following a collision between Robert Kubica and Sebastian Vettel, who were running second and third, on lap 56. This was Jenson Button's second Grand Prix victory, and his first since the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix. This also marked the first race since the 1997 European Grand Prix that cars competed using slick tyres.

The 2006 Australian Grand Prix (officially the 2006 Formula 1 Foster's Australian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit in Albert Park, Melbourne on 2 April 2006. The 57-lap race was the 22nd Australian Grand Prix as part of the World Championship, and the 71st Australian Grand Prix overall. It was also the third round of the 2006 Formula One season; the Australian Grand Prix had been the season opener since 1996, but this race was held later due to the 2006 Commonwealth Games being held in Melbourne at the time of the opening round. The season was instead opened in Bahrain, and Australia regained its first round of the season slot for 2007. The race was won by Renault's Fernando Alonso (Renault's third win from three races), with the McLaren of Kimi Räikkönen second. Ralf Schumacher finished in third place to take the last podium of his career with the Toyota team. Polesitter Jenson Button retired from the race when his engine blew on the final lap. He eventually stopped roughly ten metres from the finish line, losing a points scoring position (fifth place) in the process. Murray Walker made a return to the commentary box for a one-off with Australia's Network Ten. When Mark Webber took the lead on lap 21 in his Williams-Cosworth he became the first Australian driver to lead his home Grand Prix since John Bowe led the early laps of the non-championship 1984 race driving a Ralt RT4 Ford. This was the last race until the 2015 Mexican Grand Prix that neither Ferrari was classified.

The 2000 Australian Grand Prix (officially known as the 2000 Qantas Australian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 12 March 2000 at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne. It was the first race of the 2000 Formula One season. The 58-lap race was won by Michael Schumacher for the Ferrari team after starting from third position. Schumacher's new teammate for the 2000 season, Rubens Barrichello finished second in the other Ferrari, with Ralf Schumacher third for BMW-Williams.Mika Häkkinen started on pole position in a McLaren, with teammate David Coulthard alongside him, but both retired with pneumatic valve failures. Three drivers made their Grand Prix debut: future world champion Jenson Button in a BMW-Williams, Nick Heidfeld in a Prost and Gastón Mazzacane in a Minardi. Mazzacane and Button retired from their debut race, and Heidfeld finished ninth, two laps behind.

Albert Park and Albert Park Lake are situated in the City of Port Phillip, Victoria, Australia, 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) south of the Melbourne central business district. The park encompasses 2.25 square kilometres (225 ha; 560 acres) of parkland including Albert Park Lake (0.49 square kilometres (49 ha; 120 acres)) and provides numerous ovals, sporting facilities, the Albert Park Public Golf Course, a 4.7-kilometre (2.9 mi) walking track around the lake, and the Albert Park Circuit. It is bordered by Albert Road, Queens Road, Fitzroy Street and Canterbury Road. Surrounding suburbs include Albert Park, Middle Park, St Kilda, Melbourne and South Melbourne.