M1 Pacific Motorway is a 127-kilometre (79 mi) motorway linking Sydney to Newcastle via the Central Coast and Hunter regions of New South Wales. Formerly known but still commonly referred to by both the public and the government as the F3 Freeway, Sydney–Newcastle Freeway, and Sydney–Newcastle Expressway, it is part of the AusLink road corridor between Sydney and Brisbane.

Pacific Motorway commences at its southern end at an intersection with Pennant Hills Road in Wahroonga partially shared with ramps from Northconnex, then heads in a northerly direction, immediately passing under the interchange with Pacific Highway and then another interchange with NorthConnex in Sydney's north. It continues north, skirting the western edge of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, running parallel with the railway line until it descends to the Hawkesbury River, crossing at Kangaroo Point in Brooklyn. Immediately north of the river, the Hawkesbury River interchange provides access to Brooklyn and Mooney Mooney before the road climbs. At Mount White there are major heavy vehicle checking stations on both northbound and southbound carriageways, to assess compliance and roadworthiness of trucks.

The motorway passes through the Brisbane Water National Park, and the Calga interchange gives access to Peats Ridge. The motorway then turns east to cross Mooney Mooney Creek by way of the 480 m (1,575 ft) long, 75 m (246 ft) high Mooney Mooney Bridge before it reaches the first major interchange on the Central Coast at Kariong. After Kariong, the motorway continues through rural and semi-rural areas of the Central Coast with interchanges at Ourimbah, Tuggerah, Warnervale and Kiar, near Doyalson. From the Doyalson interchange the motorway continues to the west of Lake Macquarie with interchanges near Morisset, Cessnock, Toronto and West Wallsend.

At the West Wallsend interchange, eastbound traffic travels along Newcastle Link Road (route A15) into Newcastle via Wallsend, and westbound traffic travels along Hunter Expressway (route M15) towards Kurri Kurri and Singleton, while the motorway continues north to eventually terminate at a signalised intersection with Weakleys Drive and John Renshaw Drive, in Beresfield. From here traffic bound for Highway 1 takes John Renshaw Drive and New England Highway eastwards to meet Pacific Highway at Hexham; and Weakleys Drive connects with New England Highway westwards towards Maitland.

Between Wahroonga and Ourimbah the motorway passes through rugged sandstone country, particularly as it descends to and ascends from the Hawkesbury River. This section of the motorway is characterised by deep cuttings and extensive embankments.

Planning for a freeway began in 1952, with the aim of providing a high-speed replacement for a section of Pacific Highway that had been built in 1925–30 which was struggling to cope with the increased traffic. It was planned that the freeway would connect to the freeway systems being proposed for both Sydney and Newcastle, providing a city-to-city freeway link.

The route between Mount White and Kariong was originally planned to be further south than the route as built, with an easier crossing of Mooney Mooney Creek. By the time that construction on this section was to begin, resistance from the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service to the proposed route forced the Department of Main Roads to take a route through Calga, using part of the first stage of a proposed freeway route to Singleton which had been built in the 1960s. That scheme has never been further developed.

The route through the northern part of the Central Coast also changed; instead of passing east of Wyong along the western edge of the Tuggerah Lakes, development in that area forced the freeway to be moved to the west of Wyong, with link roads being constructed to meet Pacific Highway near Doyalson and Tuggerah.