6 - 8 MARCH 2026
Location: West Beach Pavilion, Melbourne Date: 5 - 9 March 2026 Time: 10:00 to 23:00
Ignition Beach will feature a full McLaren Racing experience zone, where visitors can explore the latest PUMA x McLaren Racing replica kit and fan wear. Fans will be able to get up close to the MCL40 show car, and thanks to McLaren Racing partner Logitech G, visitors can also test their skills on racing simulators.
Across the six days, fans can enjoy large‑screen coverage of practice, qualifying and the race.
Located a stone’s throw away from the suburb of Brighton, where Oscar grew up, the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne is a temporary street track that produces unpredictable and exciting racing… although, it doesn’t feel quite like the type of street circuit we’re accustomed to.
The track is set in the greenery of Melbourne’s Albert Park, and has something of a purpose-built feel, unlike Monaco and Azerbaijan, which are set within the normally bustling streets of a city.
The most obvious challenge of Albert Park is that it is very far from home. Later in the season, this would be less of an issue, but in March - Australia has regularly hosted Round 1 since 1996 - the challenges of a new car require the team to rise to the occasion, both with their understanding of the machine and the supply of parts required to run it.
Albert Park includes all the usual exciting street circuit pitfalls – namely, low grip, an uneven surface and the close proximity of hard, unforgiving walls. A further complication is the high level of track evolution: as the racing line is swept clean of debris and more rubber goes down, lap times improve significantly. The key is to not chase setup: race engineers need to estimate where the grip level will be on Sunday afternoon, rather than setting up for where it is during the practice sessions.
The track enjoyed its first-ever full resurfacing ahead of the race in 2022, along with a few timely alterations aimed at making the racing better. Turns 1, 6 and the penultimate corner were widened, and the Turns 9-10 chicane was removed, making the track roughly five seconds quicker, which created a better overtaking opportunity going into the new Turn 9.
We’re the most successful team in Australian Grand Prix history with 12 wins, one of which was Ayrton Senna’s final win in F1 in 1993. David Coulthard’s final F1 victory was also in Australia, 10 years later, in 2003. Lando Norris made his F1 debut in Australia in 2019 and, in 2025, he notched McLaren’s first victory in the opening race of a season for 13 years.
AUSTRALIAN GP
