Why Is the Australian GP Trophy Special for Fans and Drivers?

We have witnessed the sport undergo massive changes in the past 20 years. So maintaining a spot on the highly competitive calendar, thanks to F1’s skyrocketing popularity, since 1996 is also an achievement. Let us add another layer to this. Despite the modern trend of selling naming rights, the Australian GP trophy has also remained the same since its move to Albert Park. Today we will talk about this prestigious silver dish-shaped trophy, its origin, and how it resonates with Australian fans.

First, let’s talk about the origin. The Australian GP shield trophy is one of a kind and has not changed in the past twenty years for one simple reason. It has a deeper meaning to it. 3x Formula 1 world champion Sir Jack Brabham inspired the unconventional winner’s trophy. The shield features the same design as the steering of Australian racing legend’s 1959 Cooper-Climax T51, the same car in which he won his first championship title.

TIL the Australian Grand Prix trophy is called the Sir Jack Brabham Trophy (since 2015) & is based on Brabham’s steering wheel of the 1959 Cooper-Climax T51, in which he won his first championship
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The design of the Brabham steering wheel with a brown wooden rim on the outside and rally-style 3 wheel spokes on the inside linking to the middle all feature on the Australian GP shield. The back of the prestigious award is made of carbon fiber and even then it only weighs a mere 8kgs. However, the designed dish trophy is only reserved for the race’s winner. The other podium finishers receive a similarly shaped silver shield but without the race car steering wheel design element.

To add to the history of the trophy, after Sir Jack Brabham’s sad demise in 2014, the Australian GP organizers renamed the trophy in his honor from the 2015 edition. However, contrary to popular belief, they renamed the constructor’s shield after the late legend and not the race winners’ shield.

With Max Verstappen and Red Bull taking home the shield set home after the 2023 edition, we wait to see if the Austrian team can repeat the feat or if we will see a different winner in the upcoming race. Can Ferrari use their rumored upgrades to stop the Red Bull powertrain and take home the trophy that takes 120 hours to make? Before we speculate further on the race winner, let’s talk more about the trophy and how comes to life.

How the Australian GP shield came into being

As mentioned earlier, the shield takes up to 120 hours to manufacture, which is done in a factory in Victoria only an hour away from Melbourne. The task lies with Flynn Silver, a well-established family-run business that jumped at the opportunity after it was announced the venue of the Australian GP would move to Albert Park in 1996 from Adelaide.

Dan Flynn, the son of the man who started the company, was the guy who came up with the trophy design after he was asked to come up with one by the Australian GP chairman Ron Walker himself. The desire for uniqueness was always present and this is why Dan Flynn took inspiration from a different sport while sitting in a pub coming up with the initial design.

He details, “I remember quickly excusing myself at home to go to the local pub with pencil and paper, and stayed there until I nutted something out! But I think it had been in the back of my head, ticking over what we would do as we’d never done a trophy before then.”

He then revealed his inspiration for the shield and added, “Ron Walker didn’t want a cup, and I knew I didn’t want to do a cup. I thought of the ladies’ singles trophy at Wimbledon (the Venus Rosewater Dish), that beautiful embossed tray, and how that looks.”

120 hours of pure perfection and craftsmanship from the highest quality material to honor the greatest racer Australia has produced yet. The Australian GP dish-shaped trophy is truly a piece of art and more than that, it’s part of history.

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