Piastri grandstand location
The Piastri Grandstand, named after the current F1 driver Oscar Piastri, is new for 2026. It’s located on the outside (left-hand) side of the start / finish straight on the Albert Park circuit layout, as the map below shows.
It’s opposite the pit lane and pit garages, and part of it is directly in line with the start / finish line. This new grandstand is the end section of the Fangio grandstand which it’s directly adjacent to. That stand has now shrunk to make way for this one.
The nearest stand to this one on its left is the Moss grandstand which is much closer to Turn 1.
Other grandstands
Grandstand tickets - Australian Grand Prix
Tickets for this grandstand are likely to be very popular and will probavly sell out immediately on the official site. If that’s the case, you can buy tickets through Stubhub instead.
NOTE: If you’re visiting StubHub from Australia, you’ll need to use a VPN from another country to see the tickets available for the Aus GP.
I’ve bought F1 tickets through StubHub numerous times over the last few seasons and have always had a great experience. They have a robust FanProtect guarantee which will keep your tickets / money safe.
- Tickets can be purchased as standard or premium. Premium tickets give you seating under the covered section at the top of the stand.
- Tickets come as single day, 2-day (Sat & Sun), 3-day (Fri, Sat & Sun) or 4-day (Thu, Fri, Sat & Sun) options
- Tickets include access to all of the Park Pass General Admission areas
- Tickets include access to all fan zones and concerts on the day(s) of your ticket
Grandstand details
The Aus GP organisers have released a some details about the stand, so they’ve been incorporated in the information below.
Merch
If you get a ticket to the Piastri stand, the Aus GP organisers have confirmed the original ticket purchaser will also get one OP81 cap and one OP81 t-shirt. If you buy through a reseller don’t expect to get the merch.
TV Screens
There will probably be 2 TV screens visible from this grandstand. One screen is the background of the podium, the other one is a larger screen on top of the pit building directly opposite this stand.
Seats
The seats will be chairs with fixed backs and bases.
Cover
There are Standard and Premium seats in the stand. Standard is uncovered, premium is mostly covered.
The roof is over the top half of the stand which gives the premium seats at the top some shade from the sun. But it’s not full weather protection. Only the back rows of premium are likely to be completely protected. The only downside to being seated in the premium area is that the poles that support the roof can obscure your view slightly.
Check out my guide on what to wear to the Australian GP for tips on how to dress to keep comfortable in the Melbourne temperatures.
Piastri grandstand seating map
The Piastri stand is made up of 5 sections named A to E. Section A is closest to the last corner, Section E is closest to Turn 1.
Section C is directly in line with the start / finish line, and sections B and C should be directly opposite the podium.
The premium seats are those in rows AA – NN in the top half of the stand. The basic non-covered seats are in rows below those with single letters that go from A at the front to N at the top. There’s no row I.
As the map shows, seat numbers will increase from left to right as you stand on the track and look up at the stand. They will start from 1 again at the beginning of each section. Each section is 62 seats wide.
Piastri grandstand view at the Aus GP
The image below shows the parts of the track that are likely to be visible from this stand highlighted in pink.
The view from this stand will be mainly of the start / finish line, the pit lane and the podium. You will struggle to see up towards the first or last turns during the race. as the safety fencing can obscure your view a lot.
To see over the pit wall in to the pit lane more easily then you will want be sitting in row K or above. Anything lower than that and you’ll find it hard to see the pit garage clearly due to the pit lane wall and fences obscuring your view.
The video below was filmed from the old (pre-2026) Section C row A of the Fangio Grandstand, which I believe wil roughly equate to Section C of the Piastri stand. It’s the front row which shows how limited the view is from this near the front.
The video below was filmed from the old (pre-2026) Section A Row S of Fangio, which I believe will equate to Section E Row S of the new Piastri stand. It shows how little you can see of the first turn.
This next video shows the view from the old (pre-2026) Section B row S of the Fangio stand, which will equate to Section D row S of the new Piastri stand.
This video was again taken in the old pre-2026 Fangio stand, in the premium seats under the cover in section D row EE. This will equate to section B row EE in the Piastri stand.
After the 2026 has has happened I’ll post some videos from the Piastri stand.
Best seats Piastri grandstand
I’d suggest going for seats in sections B and C so you’re directly opposite the podium and pretty much opposite the start / finish line.
Nearest entrance
The best and nearest Albert Park entrance gate to this stand at the Aus GP is Gate 1, only a short walk away.
I’m trying to decide between Section F of the Jones Stand (Row R) and section D of Piastri (Row MM of premium). The only negative about Jones is that section F is so far away from the track as its directly facing the gravel trap. I’m also concerned that I won’t be able to see the podium or into any of the pitboxes from section D of Piastri due to the position and the pole that holds the lights. What do you think I should do?
I think it comes down to what is your priority. If you want to see the grid, pit lane, pit stops then go for Piastri. If you want to see some first corner action and overtaking then go for Jones. I’d pick the Jones stand because I’d rather see some on-track passing.