The ultimate guide to all the teams and drivers for the Australian Formula One Grand Prix

Picking out who’s who at Melbourne’s Albert Park this weekend is far from an easy task. JULIAN LINDEN breaks down all you need to know for Australia’s F1 extravaganza.

With half a dozen new drivers on the grid this year, as well as a number of older drivers having switched teams, plus cars painted in fresh liveries with different sponsors, identifying exactly who is who in a Formula One race is anything but straightforward.

It is especially tricky for the first Grand Prix of the year, taking place at Albert Park this weekend, so here’s some clues to help pick them out.

For anyone watching the race on television, the easiest way is just to listen to the callers or look at the live race order on the screen, remembering that the drivers’ names are abbreviated to the first three letters of their surnames, so Max Verstappen is VER, Lewis Hamilton is HAM and Oscar Piastri is PIA.

Although some teams have similar colours, it’s generally pretty easy to pick the teams apart, so the hardest part is figuring out the different drivers in the same team.

But while they may look the same, there are no identical twins out there and more than enough clues to separately identify everyone.

For starters, each driver has their own unique number on their car.

Preparations begin for the Australian F1 Grand Prix. Picture: Mark Sutton – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images

Each driver also has their name and their national flag on their vehicle – though it’s often small and hard to spot, especially for anyone at the circuit.

The driver helmets are perhaps the best way to pick them apart. While drivers can and do change their helmet designs for different races during the season, they usually stick to a familiar colour scheme.

If that doesn’t work, there’s one other sure way. Each car is fitted with an on-board camera, called a T-Cam, located above their heads.

They only come in two colours – black and yellow – and each team has to have one of each so no two teammates can be the same.

Originally published as The ultimate guide to all the teams and drivers for the Australian Formula One Grand Prix