2022 Australian Grand Prix interactive data: lap charts, times and tyres

With a few notable exceptions most drivers converged on the same strategy for the Australian Grand Prix.

However one driver opted for a bold strategy which delivered big rewards and could tempt others to try the same in coming races.

For the first time in four years Pirelli brought a non-consecutive selection of tyre compounds to a race: The C2 (hard), C3 (medium) and C5 (soft). The latter was too soft to consider using for a normal-length stint.

Most drivers preferred to start on the medium tyre. There were two strong incentives to go this way.

The hard tyre takes longer to warm up, and therefore is a disadvantage at the start. None of the drivers who started on it gained any places on lap one.

Plus, in a race where Safety Car periods are likely, teams want to be able to take advantage of any opportunity to pit ‘under yellow’ in order to save time. If the Safety Car comes out early, drivers who start on the medium can switch to the hard, run to the end and fulfil the need to use two different tyre compounds. But those who start on the hards may not be able to make the mediums last long enough for that to work.

The few who opted to start on hards were largely those who had qualified ‘out of position’, such as the occupants of row five, Carlos Sainz Jnr and Fernando Alonso. But it didn’t pay off for either of them.

Sainz had more trouble with his steering wheel at the start, fell into anti-stall and lost five places. Alonso stayed out during the early Safety Car period, was able to make his pit stop during a later Virtual Safety Car period, but still lost several places. He then suffered heavy tyre degradation while running behind other cars and had to pit again.

However one driver made starting on hard tyres pay off in a big way: Alexander Albon. He started last on a set of hards and didn’t pit until the final lap of the race.

He was running seventh at that point and had a 19.4 second lead over 11th-placed Zhou Guanyu. That should have been enough for him to comfortably enter and exit the pits ahead. However his pit stop was the second-slowest of the race, his team losing time with a sticking left-front wheel.

Nonetheless Albon made it out of the pits fractionally ahead of the Alfa Romeo, and used his set of soft tyres to out-run his rival to the line. It was the only lap any driver did all race on a set of C5s.

Race winner Charles Leclerc set the fastest lap on the final tour, securing the bonus point. It was a good thing he did, as he would have otherwise lost his fastest lap to Alonso, who also reeled off a quick lap at the end on his fresher medium rubber.

Leclerc’s fastest lap underlined Ferrari’s strongest performance so far this year. Even before Max Verstappen went out with a problem related to his fuel system, Red Bull had repeatedly fallen back from Ferrari, unable to manage their tyres as well as their rivals. After the first Safety Car period Verstappen lost eight seconds to Leclerc in just 11 laps.

After two races where the leading teams were a close match on pace, Red Bull’s lack of performance and reliability in Australia will set alarm bells ringing in Milton Keynes.

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2022 Australian Grand Prix lap chart

The positions of each driver on every lap. Click name to highlight, right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:

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2022 Australian Grand Prix race chart

The gaps between each driver on every lap compared to the leader’s average lap time. Very large gaps omitted. Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:

2022 Australian Grand Prix lap times

All the lap times by the drivers (in seconds, very slow laps excluded). Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and toggle drivers using the control below:

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2022 Australian Grand Prix fastest laps

Each driver’s fastest lap:

Rank	Driver	Car	Fastest lap	Gap	On lap
1	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1’20.260		58
2	Fernando Alonso	Alpine-Renault	1’20.846	0.586	57
3	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	1’21.094	0.834	58
4	George Russell	Mercedes	1’21.495	1.235	53
5	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	1’21.651	1.391	54
6	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1’21.677	1.417	37
7	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1’21.886	1.626	51
8	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	1’22.248	1.988	55
9	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren-Mercedes	1’22.451	2.191	54
10	Esteban Ocon	Alpine-Renault	1’22.469	2.209	58
11	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	1’22.541	2.281	55
12	Alexander Albon	Williams-Mercedes	1’22.589	2.329	54
13	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri-Red Bull	1’22.731	2.471	52
14	Mick Schumacher	Haas-Ferrari	1’23.006	2.746	55
15	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	1’23.071	2.811	44
16	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri-Red Bull	1’23.342	3.082	56
17	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin-Mercedes	1’23.592	3.332	48
18	Nicholas Latifi	Williams-Mercedes	1’23.882	3.622	49
19	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin-Mercedes	1’25.189	4.929	17
20	Carlos Sainz Jnr	Ferrari	1’39.028	18.768	1

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2022 Australian Grand Prix tyre strategies

The tyre strategies for each driver:

	Stint 1	Stint 2	Stint 3
Carlos Sainz Jnr	C2 (1)
Sebastian Vettel	C2 (22)
Max Verstappen	C3 (18)	C2 (20)
Charles Leclerc	C3 (22)	C2 (36)
Mick Schumacher	C3 (14)	C2 (43)
Kevin Magnussen	C2 (39)	C3 (18)
Yuki Tsunoda	C3 (18)	C2 (39)
Nicholas Latifi	C3 (13)	C2 (10)	C2 (34)
Sergio Perez	C3 (20)	C2 (38)
George Russell	C3 (23)	C2 (35)
Lewis Hamilton	C3 (22)	C2 (36)
Fernando Alonso	C2 (39)	C3 (14)	C3 (4)
Lando Norris	C3 (20)	C2 (38)
Daniel Ricciardo	C3 (21)	C2 (37)
Esteban Ocon	C3 (17)	C2 (41)
Valtteri Bottas	C3 (22)	C2 (36)
Pierre Gasly	C3 (21)	C2 (37)
Alexander Albon	C2 (57)	C5 (1)
Zhou Guanyu	C3 (21)	C2 (37)
Lance Stroll	C2 (3)	C3 (1)	C2 (19)

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2022 Australian Grand Prix pit stop times

How long each driver’s pit stops took:

	Driver	Team	Pit stop time	Gap	On lap
1	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	17.434		20
2	Lando Norris	McLaren	17.556	0.122	20
3	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	17.877	0.443	22
4	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	17.936	0.502	23
5	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	17.973	0.539	22
6	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	18.150	0.716	21
7	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	18.242	0.808	3
8	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	18.281	0.847	18
9	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo	18.380	0.946	21
10	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	18.394	0.960	53
11	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	18.413	0.979	22
12	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	18.443	1.009	18
13	George Russell	Mercedes	18.479	1.045	23
14	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	18.552	1.118	13
15	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	18.560	1.126	4
16	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	18.796	1.362	39
17	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	18.926	1.492	21
18	Mick Schumacher	Haas	19.039	1.605	14
19	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	19.111	1.677	39
20	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	19.128	1.694	17
21	Alexander Albon	Williams	19.845	2.411	57
22	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	20.402	2.968	23

2022 Australian Grand Prix

• Aston Martin’s porpoising “does not allow us to exploit the progress the guys have made”
• Wolff puts Mercedes’ odds of championship victory at “two to eight”
• FIA responds to Verstappen’s criticism of Safety Car performance
• “So this is the end of our race, I guess?” How Alonso’s luckless Australian GP unfolded
• Two-degree temperature rise led to Hamilton’s “difficult position” radio message

Browse all 2022 Australian Grand Prix articles