AutoAction
FREE DIGITAL MAGAZINE SIGN UP

No changes for Supercars in bumper Australian Grand Prix schedule

By Thomas Miles

Date posted: February 3, 2023

There will be no shortage of on-track action at the 2023 Australian Grand Prix with a Supercars race opening the weekend on Thursday.

It will be the first time ever a Supercars championship race is held on a Thursday in a historic 63-year first.

In addition to the usual anticipated Formula 1 and Supercars action, Formula 2 and Formula 3 will be coming to Albert Park for the first time.

This creates a loaded on-track schedule, with something to look forward to on all four days, while fans can cheer for a total of five Australians in the premier open-wheel categories in the world.

Australia’s Oscar Piastri will make his Australian Grand Prix debut with McLaren this year. Photo by Carl Bingham / LAT Images

All eyes will be on Melbourne-born Oscar Piastri as he embarks on his eagerly-awaited F1 debut with McLaren.

Piastri is one of the most highly rated youngsters in the F1 world having won his last three championships in F2, F3 and Formula Renault EuroCup before spending last year on the sidelines as Alpine reserve driver.

The familiar Formula 1 race weekend schedule of two Friday Free Practice sessions, one Saturday practice followed by qualifying and Sunday’s race is retained.

Charles Leclerc won last year’s Australian Grand Prix. Image: Motorsport Images

After last year’s race dominated by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc moved to the more traditional afternoon time slot, the 2023 Grand Prix will retain the earlier start time of 15.00.

Lights out at the Australian Grand Prix occurred at the later time of 17.00 in the evening from 2009 won by Jenson Button to 2019 won by Valterri Bottas.

Jenson Button won the first twilight Australian Grand Prix in 2009.
Image: Steve Etherington/LAT Photographic

In addition to Piastri, there will be plenty of Aussies racing in the feeder series, which make their Albert Park debut in 2023.

Representing Alpine in F2 is Jack Doohan, who suits up for a second year at Virtuoso Racing after an impressive sixth place finish in the 2022 season.

The son of five-time Australian 500cc world champion Mick Doohan will be hoping to be title contender in the F2 series, which first hit the Albert Park circuit at 10.00 Friday.

Jack Doohan will be chasing victory in the Formula 2 category. Phot by Motorsport Images

The second tier series has a Saturday afternoon sprint race before the one-hour feature on Sunday.

No less than three Aussies will be gunning for glory in Formula 3 with Christian Mansell, Tommy Smith and Hugh Barter all making their full-time debut in 2023.

The F3 series follows a similar schedule to F2 with one practice and qualifying session ahead of a 40-minute sprint and 55-minute feature.

Christian Mansell made his F3 debut at Hungary last year. Image: dutchphotoagency

Despite the squeeze in the schedule due to accommodating F2 and F3, the Supercars format remains the same length as last year.

The four-race structure that has been used in both championship and non championship events at the Australian Grand Prix since 2013 has been retained.

Each championship race will continue to be held over the 45 minute/20 lap distance which is a major win for the fans.

Supercars have been holding four-race weekends at the Australian Grand Prix since 2013. Image: Daniel Kalisz/LAT Photographic

The format was shortened last year, when the Australian Grand Prix returned to the championship for the first time since 2019 when a mix of 25 and 13 lap races were held.

Thursday will be a busy day with two half an hour practice sessions, qualifying and even the opening race of round 2 all taking place on the opening day of the weekend.

The remaining three races will be spread across the next three days as the open-wheel categories take centre stage.

VAN GISBERGEN WINS DRAMATIC RACE 7

Shane Van Gisbergen on his way to winning the 2022 Larry Perkins Trophy.

There was also speculation Supercars might lose its exclusive pit lane with F2 and F3 joining the paddock, but the local crews will continue to use their own garages at the exit of the final corner.

With Carrera Cup also holding three races, F2 and F3 joining F1 and the fight for the Larry Perkins Trophy set to be as competitive as ever, the 2023 Australian Grand Prix shapes up to be one to remember.

Australian Grand Prix Corporation division manager David Corrigan said the schedule has something on offer for all fans.

“We are thrilled to welcome Formula 2 and Formula 3 to the Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix 2023. With Australians on the track in every category, fans can expect four action-packed days of racing,” he said.

“The return of the popular Supercars and Porsche Carrera Cup categories round out an

incredibly exciting track schedule, including races for both categories on Thursday for the first time. There’s something for every motorsport fanatic and for those new to the sport.” 

Visit https://www.grandprix.com.au/tickets/park-pass to secure your tickets.

For more of the latest motorsport news pick up the latest issue of AUTO ACTION.

AUTO ACTION, Australia’s independent voice of motorsport

2023 Australian Grand Prix Schedule

Thursday, March 30

10.00-10.20 Historic Demonstration

10.30-11.00 Porsche Carrera Cup Practice 1

11.25-11.55 Supercars Practice 1

12.30-13.00 Porsche Carrera Cup Qualifying

13.15-13.45 Supercars Practice 2

14.45-15.00 Supercars Qualifying (Race 1)

15.10-15.25 Supercars Qualifying (Race 2)

16.50-17.35 Supercars Race 1 (20 laps)

18.00-18.35 Porsche Carrera Cup Race 1

Friday, March 31

8.50-9.35 Formula 3 Free Practice 1

10.00-10.45 Formula 2 Free Practice 1

11.40-12.00 Historic Demonstration

12.30-13.30 Formula 1 Free Practice 1

14.00-14.30 Formula 3 Qualifying

14.50-15.25 Supercars Race 2 (20 laps)

16.00-17.00 Formula 1 Free Practice 2

17.30-18.00 Formula 2 Qualifying

18.25-18.55 Porsche Carrera Cup Race 2

Saturday, April 1

9.30-9.45 Supercars Qualifying (race 3)

9.55-10.10 Supercars Qualifying (Race 4)

11.00-11.40 Formula 3 Sprint Race

12.30-13.30 Formula 1 Free Practice 3

13.40-14.00 Historic Demonstration

14.25-15.10 Formula 2 Sprint Race

16.00-17.00 Formula 1 Qualifying

17.25-17.55 Supercars Race 3 (20 laps)

18.25-18.55 Porsche Carrera Cup Race 3

Sunday, April 2

9.05-9.50 Formula 3 Feature Race

10.20-10.50 Supercars Race 4 (20 laps)

11.35-12.35 Formula 2 Feature Race 

15.00 Formula 1 Race (58 laps)

Shares

Recent Stories

array (
  0 => 
  WP_Term::__set_state(array(
     'term_id' => 37,
     'name' => 'F1',
     'slug' => 'f1',
     'term_group' => 0,
     'term_taxonomy_id' => 37,
     'taxonomy' => 'category',
     'description' => '',
     'parent' => 660,
     'count' => 2019,
     'filter' => 'raw',
     'cat_ID' => 37,
     'category_count' => 2019,
     'category_description' => '',
     'cat_name' => 'F1',
     'category_nicename' => 'f1',
     'category_parent' => 660,
  )),
  1 => 
  WP_Term::__set_state(array(
     'term_id' => 11,
     'name' => 'Latest News',
     'slug' => 'latest-news',
     'term_group' => 0,
     'term_taxonomy_id' => 11,
     'taxonomy' => 'category',
     'description' => '',
     'parent' => 0,
     'count' => 13293,
     'filter' => 'raw',
     'cat_ID' => 11,
     'category_count' => 13293,
     'category_description' => '',
     'cat_name' => 'Latest News',
     'category_nicename' => 'latest-news',
     'category_parent' => 0,
  )),
  2 => 
  WP_Term::__set_state(array(
     'term_id' => 38,
     'name' => 'Supercars',
     'slug' => 'supercars',
     'term_group' => 0,
     'term_taxonomy_id' => 38,
     'taxonomy' => 'category',
     'description' => 'Supercars is the highest profile motorsport category in Australia',
     'parent' => 0,
     'count' => 4456,
     'filter' => 'raw',
     'cat_ID' => 38,
     'category_count' => 4456,
     'category_description' => 'Supercars is the highest profile motorsport category in Australia',
     'cat_name' => 'Supercars',
     'category_nicename' => 'supercars',
     'category_parent' => 0,
  )),
  3 => 
  WP_Term::__set_state(array(
     'term_id' => 2029,
     'name' => 'ZZZ-Email',
     'slug' => 'email',
     'term_group' => 0,
     'term_taxonomy_id' => 2029,
     'taxonomy' => 'category',
     'description' => '',
     'parent' => 2031,
     'count' => 4210,
     'filter' => 'raw',
     'cat_ID' => 2029,
     'category_count' => 4210,
     'category_description' => '',
     'cat_name' => 'ZZZ-Email',
     'category_nicename' => 'email',
     'category_parent' => 2031,
  )),
  4 => 
  WP_Term::__set_state(array(
     'term_id' => 2031,
     'name' => 'ZZZ-RSSFeeds',
     'slug' => 'zzz-rssfeeds',
     'term_group' => 0,
     'term_taxonomy_id' => 2031,
     'taxonomy' => 'category',
     'description' => '',
     'parent' => 0,
     'count' => 3609,
     'filter' => 'raw',
     'cat_ID' => 2031,
     'category_count' => 3609,
     'category_description' => '',
     'cat_name' => 'ZZZ-RSSFeeds',
     'category_nicename' => 'zzz-rssfeeds',
     'category_parent' => 0,
  )),
)
57201

BMWs battle for Bathurst 6 Hour glory

With less than two hours to go, the fight for the 2024 Bathurst 6 Hour appears to be between two BMWs fighting nose to tail. After 80 laps and four […]

Goodyer makes history

Jock Goodyer added a historic third Australian Championship to his resume in dramatic style at the Avalon Raceway with a last lap pass to secure his maiden Australian Pro Sprintcar […]

VALE SIR COLIN GILTRAP

New Zealand’s greatest motorsport patron and general philanthropist, Sir Colin Giltrap has died, aged 84 after battling ill health after a fall last year. Giltrap was massively successful car dealer […]

Vale Steve Frazer

Auto Action is saddened to report the passing last week, after a sudden heart-attack, of former touring car entrepreneur Steve Frazer. Frazer was best known as Peter Brock’s manager, and […]