Qantas Australian Grand Prix 1997
Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne March 9. First Race. Circuit length: 5.302 km. Race distance: 58 laps; 307.516 km.
Podium 1996: Damon Hill (GB), Jacques Villeneuve (Can), Eddie Irvine (Ire).

Australian Grand Prix: the Australian Grand Prix moved from Adelaide to Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne in 1996. It was the opening race of the 1996 season and it will be the same this year. Martin Brundle impressed the crowd when he crashed enormously. The Jordan broke in two pieces, which is a fantastic result of tests with crashes. Martin Brundle had no injuries at all and could start again. The race was dominated by rookie Jacques Villeneuve who almost won his first Grand Prix after taking Pole Positon the day before the race. Villeneuve had to slow down and teammate Damon Hill passed and won the first race of the season. Eddie Irvine (Ferrari) drove to a 3rd position which was his best result in 1996.

This year we will see two brand new teams making their Grand Prix debut: Stewart Grand Prix and MasterCard Lola. Formula One legend Jackie Stewart and his son Paul Stewart will come with a team which is sponsored by HSBC and Malaysia. Malaysia will organise a Grand Prix in the near future and hopes that this will promote the country. MasterCard will have special offers for their Formula One Card holders. Bridgestone enters Formula One and has shown their potential in pre-season testing and last season tests with Jos Verstappen. Teams could use all tyres but 1998 will be the year without slicks. World champion Damon Hill teams up with Arrows-Yamaha and team manager Tom Walkinshaw believes that he will win 2 or 3 races this year.