Melbourne confirms 2023 race date for Australian GP

The Australian Grand Prix Corporation has announced that its 2023 event at Albert Park in Melbourne will take place on April 2.

The race thus sits on Formula 1's 2023 calendar as the third round of the championship after Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

In June, Formula 1 announced a 10-year contract extension with the Australian Grand Prix which guarantees the event's presence on the sport's agenda until 2035.

As part of its extended deal with F1, Melbourne has been promised season opening status a minimum of five times in the next 13 years.

It has already been decided that the event will open the 2024 and 2025 F1 campaigns while its additional three opening slots have yet to be determined.

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"At the start of the season, taking into account Ramadan, taking into account Easter, taking into account other scheduling constraints, five races to headline the start of the season in Melbourne is a great result, and that's the guaranteed minimum," commented AGPC boss Andrew Westacott back in June.

"What we're going to find is that over the course of that time, we're going to be either Race 1, Race 2 or Race 3, very early in the season.

"It's a great outcome. We saw 419,000 people here as the estimated attendance for 2022. We see that continuing."

Next year's event will surely enjoy once again a healthy attendance with future F1 local hero Oscar Piastri on the grid, while Daniel Ricciardo will hopefully also be in action.

Last week, Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali suggested that next year's calendar will feature 24 races, more than any previous season and the maximum allowed under the sport's current regulations.

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.