Across the four days, participants and their loved ones will be welcomed to the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit for personalised, behind-the-scenes experiences. From meeting drivers and teams to seeing the inner workings of a racing garage, the Wish Program gives families a chance to share something special together.<\/p>\n
Margaret Zita OAM, Chief Operating Officer of My Room Children\u2019s Cancer Charity, notes that these opportunities often come during the most difficult times for these families. \u201cWe\u2019re incredibly grateful to the Australian Grand Prix Corporation for including My Room families in this year\u2019s Wish Program. These wishes create moments of joy and memories that families will hold onto forever, often during the hardest chapter of their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
To give Wish participants a taste of the excitement to come, several children were recently joined at Albert Park by Tickford Racing drivers Cam Waters and Thomas Randle. Waters and Randle will compete in the Supercars Championship, which will once again kickstart the weekend of racing on Thursday, 5 March.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing able to play our part in the Wish Program is incredibly special,” says Randle. “Seeing the excitement on the kids\u2019 faces reminds us how powerful sport can be. We\u2019re looking forward to seeing these kids and their families back at the circuit during race week, soaking up the atmosphere and experiencing the event alongside us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The impact of the program is best summed up by those who have walked the pit lane before. Jett, a 2025 Wish Program participant, recalls his time at the circuit as a highlight of his year. \u201cSeeing inside the garage was my favourite part, and meeting Oscar Piastri<\/a> and Alexander Albon<\/a>. I couldn\u2019t believe how close you can get to everything, it was so cool!\u201d<\/p>\n For the charities involved, the program provides a vital sense of hope. Starlight Children\u2019s Foundation Wishgranting Manager, Courtney Smith, explains that when a child is diagnosed with a serious illness, life is turned upside-down. \u201cPrograms like this one can be a wonderful source of hope and positive distraction for these children and their families. It gives them something to look forward to, provides valuable connection time and creates wonderful happy memories.”<\/p>\n Supercars\u2019 refreshed race format, which was launched in 2025, has generated huge interest in the 2026 Championship, with Melbourne sitting as the second race on the season\u2019s calendar. The move to position the Supercars Paddock and podium to the outside of the Albert Park track last year will return for 2026, once again giving fans front-row access to the drivers and teams.<\/p>\n The Formula 1\u00ae Qatar Airways Australian Grand Prix 2026 returns to Albert Park from 5-8 March.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Across the four days, participants and their loved ones will be welcomed to the Albert Park Grand Prix…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":431663,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,16483,63,16482,817,16481,813,816,647,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-431662","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-ausgp","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-grand-prix","12":"tag-f1","13":"tag-f1-tickets","14":"tag-formula-1","15":"tag-formula1","16":"tag-melbourne","17":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/431663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}