Formula 2 drivers reflect on their Melbourne experience

13 March 2026

Round 1 in Melbourne is always a special weekend for the drivers, teams and the fans.

For many of the 2026 cohort, it was their first trip to Australia, and they went early to acclimatise to the time zone, but also to do some sightseeing.

So after the race weekend was done, we caught up with a few to find out what they made of their trip Down Under.

Colton Herta, Hitech

“I really do love this country. I think it resonates well with how I like to live. You wake up early in the morning. It's very fitness forward. You go for a run.

“Everyone's out for a run at 6, 6:30am, and you can get breakfast. I don't really like to eat breakfast until like 11am, but that's a thing here. You kind of get a brunch. It's big, so I love that aspect. Coffee's also great.

“It's just a beautiful country, and I love all the mom-and-pop restaurants. It's not chain focused like in America. So it's really cool and then obviously they have a great motor racing background too.

Herta (right) and Inthraphuvasak (centre) reflected on their trip to Melbourne

“They are probably the closest to American racing. They love huge displacement engines. Huge naturally aspirated V8 engines They love their dirt sprint car racing like we do in America. They love their V8 supercars.

“Obviously we see they love their Formula 1. So it's one that I think is a necessary stop on the calendar forever.”

Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak, ART Grand Prix

“Melbourne is one of my favourite cities. It's always great being there. I have a lot of time off before the race just to get used to use this time zone.

“I went a week early so I spent time with other drivers like Nikola. We went surfing, went on a few runs as well, so it was a really good time and we could settle in before the race.

“Also you had to see all the fans in Melbourne a lot of Thai fans, and they especially were a really good push for me for the race weekend, and you know it was definitely a really good weekend overall.”

Bilinski reflected experience in Melbourne both on and off the track

Roman Bilinski, DAMS Lucas Oil

“Overall I really enjoyed my time in Melbourne. It's only once a year we get to travel to Australia so you like to make the most of it and go a bit early and use it as an excuse to beat the jet lag, but No, it was great.

“Also the track is for me one of the best tracks we drive. It's got so much camber and it's just such a high speed circuit, such an incredible amazing track.

"Honestly it is one off the best experiences, it's a shame that it's over so soon. But I am already looking forward to coming back in the future.”

Fittipaldi was another to enjoy his first trip to Melbourne

Emerson Fittipaldi, AIX Racing

“The Melbourne weekend was amazing. I arrived a week before the race, so I could acclimate to the jet lag and to the conditions at Melbourne. It was my first time going to Australia, so it's always new things, it's always fun to discover and I really like the city, really like the people and for sure looking forward to going back there next year.”