Melbourne Grand Prix 2024: Everything F1 Fans Need to Know about Watching the Race This Year

Melbourne Grand Prix 2024: Everything F1 Fans Need to Know about Watching the Race This Year
Contributor: Lauren Rouse and Stephanie Nuzzo
At Lifehacker, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.

If there’s one sporting event that wins the attention of the masses, it’s Formula 1. For those of you who are revved up about the Melbourne F1 Grand Prix in 2024, here’s everything you need to know. From getting your hands on F1 tickets, to Melbourne Grand Prix dates and a breakdown of where to watch the race at home, here’s your guide to the major event for 2024.

 When is the Melbourne Grand Prix?

F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain 2022
Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team W13 during the F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain at Bahrain International Circuit on March 20, 2022 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)

The F1 schedule has officially kicked off for 2024, which means the Melbourne race is speeding our way. Here’s what you need to know about the event’s date.

Melbourne Grand Prix 2024: Date

The Melbourne Grand Prix in 2024 is slated for the weekend of March 22 through to March 24. This includes three practice sessions, a qualifying event and, of course, race day.

What’s the start time of the Melbourne F1?

The Melbourne F1 GP race in 2024 is set to start at 3:00 pm on March 24. You can read more about the schedule here.

Duration of the Melbourne F1 Race

The Melbourne F1 Grand Prix race is slated to run for two hours, between 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm. The complete schedule line up for the weekend can be found here.

Where to watch the Melbourne Formula 1

Keen to tune into race day for the Australian F1? Here’s all the information you need to know about watching along.

Watch live on TV

Perhaps the easiest option in the list here is that you can tune in to watch the 2024 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on free-to-air television. Channel 10 is the place to find the race live in Australia.

Foxtel

Additionally, if you have a Foxtel subscription, you’ll be able to watch all practice sessions, qualifying events and race in the F1 Championship for 2024, including the Melbourne Grand Prix.

Kayo

Rounding out the streaming options, local sports service Kayo will also offer live coverage for every practice, qualifying session and race from the 2023 F1 World Championship – along with the Australian race. You can stream F1 races (and other motorsport events) live or on-demand on Kayo for $25 a month.

Get Melbourne F1 tickets

If you’re lucky enough to be able to attend the Melbourne F1 GP race in real life this year, you can purchase tickets to the events via the official Formula One website here.

Federation Square or at the pub

The Australian F1 Grand Prix weekend is quite the went at Federation Square in Melbourne. If you’re planning to head down, you can usually expect a couple of days of live streaming as well as pop up activations. Additionally, you can expect a number of local pubs to be showing the race if you’d like to get a feed as you watch along.

What does the Melbourne Grand Prix circuit look like?

Melbourne race track. Screenshot via F1 website

If you’re curious about the Melbourne F1 race track at Albert Park, we’ve included a picture of it for you here. The circuit is 5.278km in total, with a race distance of 306.124km.

Melbourne Grand Prix track: Your questions answered

Interested in the minutia of the Melbourne Grand Prix race track? We’ve done the research for you below.

Is the Melbourne Grand Prix track permanent?

Melbourne has been hosting the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park since 1996. The circuit is a semi-permanent one and was upgraded in 2022 for better high-speed action.

Is Albert Park a good track?

When discussing the quality of the Albert Park track in Melbourne, we’ll revert to the thoughts of David Smith, who recently wrote about the best and worst F1 race tracks for Lifehacker here.

He shared:

“Is Australia one of the best circuits on the calendar? No. Do we consistently deliver great racing? Also no. If we’re completely honest with ourselves, Albert Park is a mid-tier F1 circuit amongst many. It’s fast, yes, however, it’s not that easy to overtake on. But it is our Grand Prix, and the Australian atmosphere is like nowhere else in the world. We come to the F1 to party, and you can feel it even through the TV. It’s also incredibly cool to see these powerful, beautiful cars tearing it up on Australian soil with the Melbourne skyline as their backdrop.”

“All that, and it’s one of the very few races of the year that takes place in our timezone, so we have to take advantage of that.”

What is the top speed of the F1 track in Melbourne?

Per the Australian Grand Prix website, top speeds for the Melbourne circuit can reach over 330km/hour. This is due to the removal of the chicane at Turn 9 and 10, it shares.

How long does it take to do a lap of Albert Park?

The current record for a lap of Melbourne’s Albert Park sits with Sergio Perez, who achieved 1:20.235 in 2023. In 2023, the median lap time sat at 1:21.173 – 1:21.183. This circuit consists of 58 laps total.

Who will be racing in the 2024 Melbourne F1?

F1 Grand Prix of Mexico 2022
(Photo by Clive Mason – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)

The teams have been set for the 2024 F1 season, and the Melbourne Grand Prix will have the following faces taking to the circuit:

Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing), Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing), Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), George Russell (Mercedes), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Lando Norris (McLaren), Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Valtteri Bottas (Sauber), Zhou Guanyu (Sauber) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Nico Hulkenberg (Haas), Daniel Ricciardo (RB), Yuki Tsunoda (RB), Alex Albon (Williams), Logan Sargeant (Williams).

Read more about the team set up for 2024 here.

This article has been updated since its original publish date.

Lead Image Credit: Chris Putnam/Future Publishing via Getty Images


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

Here are the cheapest plans available for Australia’s most popular NBN speed tier.

At Lifehacker, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.

Comments


Leave a Reply