The Australian Grand Prix could become the latest race on the Formula One calendar to take place at night, with F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali also hoping to make the Albert Park race the season curtain raiser once again.
Should the switch go ahead, it would make the Australian GP one of seven night races in F1’s stacked season.
Watch the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix 2023 Live and ad-break free in racing on Kayo Sports this Sunday April 2 3:00PM AEDT. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
Australian GP chairman Paul Little is certainly intrigued by the move and insists he will “continue to explore” the viability of pushing the race into the evening under the Melbourne night sky.
“I’d love to not rule out a night Grand Prix,” Little said.
“I just think if we could make that work, that would be amazing and also great for reaching the rest of the F1 audience.
“There is no question more people would watch it if they could see it live at a reasonable hour on the other side of the world.
“So I think we will continue to explore the viability and the capability of doing that.”
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MORE COVERAGE
Practice Talking Pts: Verstappen dominant, but rain leaves big questions unanswered
Practice Wrap: F1 ace rages as rain ruins practice; no luck for Aussie in dramatic quali
ALONSO TOPS TIMESHEETS IN RAIN-HIT PRACTICE 2
There was a huge rush to get out onto the circuit at the opening of Practice 2 with rain on the radar and huge temperature drops, with an estimated 40 per cent chance of showers during the session and a track temperature of 26.5 degrees.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez looked on track to set the early fastest lap before getting stuck behind Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in the final complex of corners.
“Yeah, Stroll f***ed me there,” Perez said on team radio.
Perez was then blocked by Guanyu Zhou declaring: “Ahh f*** sake’s man, traffic is horrendous.”
Cars continued to get in each others’ ways with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen blocking Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and the champion complaining he hadn’t been told the latter was coming.
Rain then began to fall some 15 minutes into the session on portions of the track. Some cars continued to run on the dry tyres but failed to improve their times at all.
The Ferraris returned to the track with 35 minutes left with Mercedes’ George Russell saying on team radio he felt it was too dry for intermediates but they’d soon be appropriate.
He declared he was “surprised” as he noticed Sainz and Charles Leclerc were on fresh softs, with Leclerc quickly declaring “there’s no point driving like this” and returning to the pits.
“Ferrari do weird things when it’s drizzling, don’t they?” Jolyon Palmer said on F1 TV.
“They’ve just wasted a set of soft tyres.”
The rain only got heavier from there before most drivers came out on inters to gather some fresh data on how the 2023 cars go in the wet.
PRACTICE 2 LEADERBOARD (Dry running in first 15 minutes)
1. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin (1:18.887)
2. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari (+0.445)
3. Max Verstappen, Red Bull (+0.615)
4. George Russell, Mercedes (+0.785)
5. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari (+0.808)
6. Esteban Ocon, Alpine (+0.838)
7. Sergio Perez, Red Bull (+1.196)
8. Lando Norris, McLaren (+1.289)
9. Nico Hulkenberg, Haas (+1.307)
10. Pierre Gasly, Alpine (+1.319)
11. Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri (+1.333)
12. Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo (+1.425)
13. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes (+1.436)
14. Oscar Piastri, McLaren (+1.493)
15. Guanyu Zhou, Alfa Romeo (+1.583)
16. Lance Stroll, AstonMartin (+1.692)
17. Nyck De Vries, AlphaTauri (+1.713)
18. Alex Albon, Williams (+2.295)
18. Kevin Magnussen, Haas (+2.379)
20. Logan Sargeant, Williams (No time)
SATURDAY SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES AEDT)
9:05am – 9:20am: Supercars Qualifying (Race 5)
9:30am – 9:45am: Supercars Qualifying (Race 6)
12:30pm – 1:30pm: Formula One Practice 3
4pm – 5pm: Formula One Qualifying
5:30pm – 6:00pm: Supercars Race 5
HOW TO WATCH
The entire Australian Grand Prix, including every practice, qualifying and race, can be watched live and ad-break free on Foxtel and streaming platform Kayo.
Watch the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix 2023 Live and ad-break free in racing on Kayo Sports this Sunday April 2 3:00PM AEDT. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
Follow Australian Grand Prix practice in our live blog below!
