Every winner of the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix since 1985: 30 years since incident sparked 'worldwide outrage'
Every Australian Grand Prix winner since 1985
Ahead of the 2024 Australian Grand Prix, Wide World of Sports takes a look back at every Formula 1 race winner Down Under at the Adelaide and Melbourne circuits.
1985 | Keke Rosberg
The F1 World Championship roared into Adelaide as the closer for the 1985 season.
Race day was stinking hot – 35C and the race itself was all about attrition. Only eight of the 25 starters saw the chequered flag.
Driving for Williams, it was the last win of Rosberg's career.
1986, 1988 | Alain Prost
About 150,000 fans packed into the Adelaide Circuit to watch Prost win his second world title in 1986 (pictured).
That race is perhaps best remembered for Nigel Mansell's spectacular tyre failure that cost him the championship.
Prost's win in 1988 was the final win by a turbocharged car in F1 until 2014.
1987, 1992 | Gerhard Berger
The first of Berger's two AGP wins was also the last Ferrari victory before Enzo Ferrari's death.
Driving for McLaren in '92, Berger held off a hard-charging Michael Schumacher for victory.
He is one of only five drivers to win the Australian Grand Prix for two teams.
1989 | Thierry Boutsen
In atrocious conditions, Thierry Boutsen claimed the second of his three victories in F1.
Before the start, many drivers campaigned to have the race called off due to the conditions, but were unsuccessful.
Alain Prost retired after just four laps due to safety concerns.
It wouldn't be the only wet race in Adelaide…
1990 | Nelson Piquet
Piquet's win came after a lunge by Nigel Mansell in the dying laps at the hairpin almost took the pair of them out.
The victory secured him third in the championship.
1991, 1993 | Ayrton Senna
At just 14 laps, the 1991 AGP was the shortest F1 race ever until the farcical Belgian Grand Prix of 2021.
But unlike Belgium, this had competitive racing laps.
Not that there was much racing – the conditions were so bad keeping the cars out of the concrete walls that lined the track was an achievement in and of itself.
As crashed cars littered the circuit, Senna spent two laps gesturing wildly to officials to stop the race before officials finally listened, but only after Nigel Mansell suffered a monster crash from second place on lap 16.
Under the rules, the result was back-dated to the last completed lap, which meant Mansell kept his podium – although he didn't get to taste the champagne because he was in hospital.
Senna's win in 1993 was much more straightforward. He even joined Tina Turner on stage during the post-race concert, where she performed 'The Best' despite having already played the song.
1994 moment that sparked 'worldwide outrage'
In the lead-up to the 2024 Australian Grand Prix, F1 legend Damon Hill returned to the scene of the infamous crash that handed Michael Schumacher the 1994 world championship.
In the final race of a tragic season that claimed the lives of both Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger, Schumacher arrived in Adelaide needing only to finish ahead of Hill to clinch the championship.
But that looked in serious doubt when he slid off the road while leading and smacked the wall at turn five.
Schumacher came back onto the track but was slow, and Hill – sensing this could be his only opportunity – dived up the inside.
Schumacher turned in on Hill and the pair made contact. Schumacher was launched into the air and into a tyre wall. He was out on the spot.
Hill trundled slowly around the track back to the pits, but broken suspension meant he was unable to continue.
Schumacher was champion for the first time.
Many within F1 and Williams believed Schumacher – who knew he would not be able to get back past Hill in a damaged car – had deliberately turned in on Hill to ensure he would win the championship.
Williams decided not to protest the result, as they were still reeling from the death of Ayrton Senna.
"It would not be an exaggeration to say there was worldwide outrage and controversy," Hill wrote on Instagram.
"It was perhaps a predictable denouement to a fractious and tragic season.
"Most of us at Williams were glad to see the back of it."
1994 | Nigel Mansell
Mansell was the main beneficiary of Hill and Schumacher's clash in the 1994 Australian Grand Prix.
It was his only win in Australia despite being in strong position to do so on several occasions.
1995-96 | Damon Hill
A year on from heartbreak, Hill put together one of the most dominant displays in F1 history.
Although somewhat aided by attrition, Hill won the final Australian Grand Prix to be held in Adelaide by a staggering two laps over the Ligier of Olivier Panis.
Both Benetton's, both Ferrari's, and his Williams teammate David Coulthard all failed to finish.
Notably, Hill is the only driver to win the world championship AGP's on both circuits, and given Australia switched from the season-closer in 1995 to the season-opener in 1996 in Melbourne, did it in back-to-back races.
Teammate Jacques Villeneuve led much of the race before an oil leak allowed Hill to catch and pass him late.
