With just a week to go until the highly-anticipated 2017 Australian Grand Prix, we take a look at Formula 1’s best season-opening races.

New teams, new drivers and new cars, often the first Grand Prix of the year can be the most exciting. For most fans it’s a journey into the unknown and throws up some shock results.

5: Australia 2016

We begin with the most recent opening race, as last season’s first Grand Prix was an eventful one. The two Mercedes cars occupied the front row, however the Ferraris muscled their way passed going into Turn 1 to throw the cat amongst the pigeons.

The order remained largely the same until Lap 17 of 58, when Fernando Alonso’s McLaren crashed into the back of Esteban Gutierrez’s Haas in a spectacular accident to bring out the red flag.

With the race back underway, a strategic error by Ferrari meant that Sebastian Vettel still had to pit unlike Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton who were behind him. To add insult to injury to Ferrari, Kimi Raikkonen had to retire with a turbo failure shortly after the restart.

Despite a late surge by Vettel it was yet another 1-2 for Mercedes but Romain Grosjean’s heroics further down the grid also grabbed the headlines. The Frenchman finished sixth and scored points on Haas’ F1 debut, but it was far from the best debut race down under…

4: Australia 2009

2009 brought a large shakeup in the regulations, not dissimilar to what we’re going to experience this year. From the embers of the Honda Racing F1 team came Brawn GP and following some promising times during pre-season testing, many still had doubts around their true pace. That was until qualifying, when Jenson Button spectacularly claimed pole with Rubens Barrichello alongside him in P2.

When the race got underway, Barrichello almost stalled and plummeted down the field into P9 and was lucky not to retire after contact with Mark Webber. The Brazilian driver then set about regaining the places he had lost. Late on in the race, Sebastian Vettel and Robert Kubica came together when Kubica was trying to make a move. Leaving both retired and Barrichello moving into second place behind teammate Jenson Button. Brawn GP with a debut 1-2, on their way to the drivers and constructors titles later that year. Incredible.

3: Brazil 1989

Wind the clock back nearly twenty years and McLaren was the best team in the sport. They had just completed the most dominant season in F1 history, 15 wins from 16 races, so when Ayrton Senna claimed pole for his home race, it seemed like the trend would continue.

Despite this, Senna was involved in an altercation at the first corner and was effectively taken out of the race, along with Gerhard Berger. It was Riccardo Patrese who assumed the lead in his Williams which he held until Lap 15 of 61, when Nigel Mansell powered round the outside of the Italian.

The scorching temperatures during the race made multiple tyre stops a must with Mansell requiring two, including one to change the steering wheel. Despite concerns over Ferrari’s revolutionary semi-automatic car coming into the race, Mansell ‘Il Leone’ (The Lion) became the first Ferrari driver to win his debut race since Mario Andretti back in 1971. Mauricio Gugelmin also had an excellent home race, finishing on the podium in his March.

2: United States 1990

A year later, this time in Phoenix, Arizona, F1 produced another classic. Saturday qualifying was a washout, so the grid was decided by the times set during Friday practice. This meant we saw Pierluigi Martini’s Minardi on the front row, a Dallara and Tyrrell on the second row, Riccardo Patrese down in twelfth and Nigel Mansell, the winner 12 months ago, all the way down in seventeenth.

Going into Turn 1, Jean Alesi overtook pole sitter Gerhard Berger to sensationally take the lead. Even more incredibly, he pulled out a lead over the Austrian. When Berger spun on Lap 9 of 72, this opened the door for his McLaren teammate, Ayrton Senna, to start to chase Alesi for the lead.

Senna, 1988 World Champion, was renowned for his skill behind the wheel, especially at street circuits. It took the Brazilian another 25 laps to pass Alesi and even then, he couldn’t make it stick as the Tyrrell driver stuck it down the inside into Turn 2 to retake first position. Ultimately, though, it wasn’t to last, as Senna took the lead at the same point the following lap and didn’t make the same mistake twice.

Ayrton Senna went on to win the race but Jean Alesi would grab the headlines as his performance that day was truly amazing. Very much a remarkable race on an otherwise unremarkable track.

1: Australia 2003

After 3 titles in a row one could be forgiven for feeling a sense of déjà vu when Michael Schumacher claimed pole around the Albert Park circuit back in 2003. However, a jumbled-up grid in qualifying coupled with a damp track from rain earlier in the day produced a fantastic race.

After a hectic start, the Safety Car came out on Lap 7 of 58 to stabilise the field due to Rubens Barrichello and Ralph Firman’s offs. Juan Pablo Montoya now lead the race and by Lap 36 was being chased by Kimi Raikkonen and Schumacher’s Ferrari.

Schumacher was desperate to win the race but a lunge down the outside of Turn 1 ruined his race, trying to take Raikkonen around the outside forced him off and damaged his car. With just 8 laps remaining, Montoya looked set to win the race, Coulthard was closing in his McLaren but was still a few seconds back.

Montoya then did something completely unexpected, he went into Turn 1 too fast, spun and gifted the lead to the McLaren. Coulthard was a hardened veteran of F1 and was never going to make the same mistake. Montoya limped home to take second place but it could’ve so easily been the Colombian’s second win the sport.