F1 Australian Grand Prix: 5 Shocking Moments

Formula 1 will finally return to Albert Park, in Melbourne, for the Australian Grand Prix which has been on the calendar since 1996.

While the sport hasn’t raced in Melbourne since 2019 when the sport travelled down under for the 2020 Australian Grand Prix, it remained on the sports original calendars before it was cancelled in 2020 and 2021.

Since it’s inaugural grand prix, for the 1996 championship season opener, there has been some shocking moments across its 26 year tenure in the sport.

From barrel rolls to running out of fuel, here are five shocking moments from the Australian Grand Prix:

Martin Brundle’s crash (1996)

In the inaugural Australian Grand Prix, the now-beloved commentator, Martin Brundle was in his final F1 season, racing for Jordan. The Briton was lined up on 19th on the grid ahead of the season opener. However, Brundle wouldn’t make it to turn four.

As the pack raced towards turn three, David Coulthard – in the red and white McLaren – moved across the track, to avoid a collision with the Tyrell of Mika Salo. This caused Brundle to collect the rear of the McLaren, as he approached the braking zone. As Brundle’s Jordan flew into the air, he landed upside down – nose first – as his car broke in half.

Luckily, Brundle was able to walk away from the incident as the race was quickly red flagged soon after.

Alesi’s out of fuel (1997)

Benetton’s Jean Alesi wasn’t in his team’s good books after the Australian Grand Prix in 1997.

Despite his team’s best attempts to call the French driver back into the pit lane, to refuel his B197, the driver ignored the numerous calls to pit. Ultimately, this resulted in Alesi’s strange retirement as his car coasted to a stop, with an empty fuel tank, at the side of the track – between turns 10 and 11.

Aired on live TV, this lead to one of the late Murray Walker’s great murrayisms when he stated the Benetton garage was ‘ab-so-lutly furious!’

https://twitter.com/1990sF1/status/1237003138932117504

Ferrari turn one speed bump (2002)

Ralph Schumacher, brother of the legendary icon Michael Schumacher, slammed into the back of Ferrari’s Rubens Barrichello as the pack headed into turn one. This sent the Williams of Schumacher flying threw the air before he returned to ground, in the gravel trap before he slid into the barrier.

However, Barrichello and Schumacher weren’t the only ones to be impacted by the incident. While many drivers managed to make it through turn one, unscathed, some were caught up in the action.

Both drivers suffered no injuries from the incident.

Alonso’s crash (2016)

On lap 17 of 57, Fernando Alonso – during his McLaren tenure – found himself in the back of the Haas of Esteban Gutierrez which resulted in the Spaniard taking a dramatic barrel roll across the gravel trap. Alonso’s car was later found to be upside down, beside the barriers which lined the run off area at turn three.

As the two drivers approached turn three, at high speed, Alonso clipped the rear left tyre of Gutierrez as the Spaniard tried to take avoiding action. The Spaniard slid along the barriers into T3 before his car launched into a barrel roll after it dug into the gravel. The race was later suspended with a red flag to clear away the debris and the stranded cars.

Fortunately, the two drivers involved were able to walk away from the crash.

Daniel Ricciardo’s front wing (2019)

Ahead of the 2019 season, Daniel Ricciardo moved from Red Bull Racing to Renault (now Alpine). However, his start with the French constructor, in his home race, got off to a bad start.

In an attempt to take avoiding action, due to Sergio Perez’s (Racing Point) slow start, the Australian driver went onto the grass verge – which lines the edge of the track down the pit straight. However, the Australian’s car hit a gutter along the verge and his front wing separated from his car in dramatic fashion.

He later retired from his home grand prix as the team called him into the pit lane.

https://twitter.com/Chicane_Wings/status/1510890910632054787

That’s it for the article: F1 Australian Grand Prix: 5 Shocking Moments! What shocking moments do you remember? Let us know in the comments!

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.