F1 Australian GP: Who has the most wins?

The Australian GP, now in its latest iteration at Albert Park, has been one of the permanent fixtures on the F1 calendar since 1996. The race has more often not kickstarted the F1 season and has therefore been accompanied by tons of excitement and anticipation.

So, who are the drivers that have been the most successful at Albert Park? Let's take a look at the 5 drivers with the most wins at the Australian GP.

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Who has won the most Australian GPs?

#5 Lewis Hamilton (2 Wins)

It does come as a bit of a surprise that Lewis Hamilton, despite driving the dominant Mercedes, does not feature more prominently on this list. The Mercedes driver won his first Australian GP in 2008 when he was driving for McLaren and went on to win the championship.

The second instance for the Mercedes driver came in 2015 when he beat Nico Rosberg to kickstart his championship campaign with a win.

#4 Kimi Raikkonen (2 Wins)

The Iceman had some great memories at the Australian GP. He started his journey with Ferrari at Albert Park in 2007 and ended up dominating the weekend with a pole position and a race win.

Raikkonen returned to the track in 2013 as well, this time while driving a Lotus. The Finnish driver fended off the likes of Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel to clinch the win.

#3 Sebastian Vettel (3 Wins)

Albert Park was not essentially a favorite hunting ground for Sebastian Vettel during his Red Bull years. He retired while leading the race in 2010 and his pitstop strategy worked against him in 2016.

Vettel, however, has had sporadic success at the track now and then. He dominated the 2011 Australian GP in his Red Bull and then in 2017 and 2018, he was able to beat Lewis Hamilton in a straight fight while driving a Ferrari.

#2 Jenson Button (3 Wins)

Jenson Button has one of the more sneaky records in Albert Park. The British driver never had dominant machinery for far too long in his career but whenever he did, he made the most of it at the Australian GP.

In 2009, Brawn GP's first race featured Button taking pole position for the race before cruising to a dominant win on Sunday. The race proved to be the first of the five that the British driver won in the first half of his championship-winning campaign.

The far more impressive wins were in 2010 and 2012. In those races, Button did not have dominant machinery under him and had a force of nature in Lewis Hamilton as his teammate.

Despite that, his wet weather skills trumped the field in 2010. He was one of the earliest to pit for slick tires and made them work on a drying track.

In 2012, Button went head-to-head with Hamilton and was able to beat the F1 legend in a straight fight after jumping him at the start.

#1 Michael Schumacher (4 Wins)

Michael Schumacher was at his tenacious best during his Ferrari days. The German driver made the most of the superior Italian machinery as he picked off one win after the other at Albert Park.

Schumacher started his first championship-winning campaign with Ferrari in 2000 with a win in Australia after both the McLarens, who started on the first row, retired with engine issues.

In 2001, he fended off David Coulthard for his second win in two years at the track. Then in 2002, with the aid of his dominant machinery, the German cruised home to the top step of the podium and made it three wins in a row at the track. In 2004, Schumacher, driving one of the best cars ever made in the history of F1, cruised to his record fourth win on the track.

The German did not have any of his signature wins at the Australian GP as more often than not, the track signified a metronomic consistency for Schumacher more than anything.