Grand Prix racing returns to Melbourne for the first race of the 2012 Formula One world championship. I’ve been watching Formula One racing for years so naturally I got tickets to the event that started with two practice sessions today ahead qualifying tomorrow and the race on Sunday.

On TV I wouldn’t usually watch the practice sessions, but I was keen to see the new cars hit the circuit for the first time this year. The cars were lapping the roads around Albert Park which for the rest of the year are open to the public.

It wasn’t that long ago since I was in Singapore watching F1 cars racing around the streets at the Grand Prix there last year, but somehow I had forgotten just how astonishingly loud these cars are.

Local hopes are pinned on Australian Grand Prix driver, Mark Webber (pictured), who has never finished in the top three here in Australia. He drives the Red Bull car along side his double world champion team mate, Sebastian Vettel.