Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault/Michelin) scored a dominant victory in the opening race of the Formula One season in Melbourne, Australia. After the sport's first aggregated qualifying sessions, the Italian lined up on pole position and immediately pulled 1.4 seconds clear of fellow front-row starter Jarno Trulli (Toyota/Michelin).
Thereafter he controlled the pace at will. He briefly lost the lead during the traditional shuffle that follows scheduled pit stops, but the result was never in doubt. Although Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari) closed to within six seconds of the leader in the race's closing stages, Fisichella responded by upping his pace to underline that he had plenty in reserve. Michelin motorsport director Pierre Dupasquier said: "We finished 2004 with a flourish – and it is very satisfying to begin the new season in similar fashion."
After a bright start, Trulli faded as the race wore on – particularly during his second stint, when his chassis had an imbalance – and he had to settle for ninth. As he slipped down the order, a phalanx of Michelin runners moved up. Fernando Alonso drove a blistering race from 14th on the grid. After finding a way past Jacques Villeneuve's Sauber, which had trapped him in 10th place during the early stages, Alonso set a string of stunning laps – including a 1m 25.683s, the fastest of the race – to haul himself into third place and give Renault an early eight-point cushion in the world championship for constructors. "I said before the race that the new rules would force the drivers to demonstrate new skills, and it was pleasing to see both of them demonstrate a deep understanding of their requirements so quickly. We must also thank Michelin: we couldn't have asked for better tyres for today's race." said Pat Symonds, Excutive Director of Engineering – Mild Seven RenaultF1 Team.
Michelin-shod Formula One newcomer Red Bull Racing had an encouraging debut. David Coulthard made a terrific start from row three of the grid to hold an early third place, but he lost time after colliding with a lapped car and eventually had to settle for fourth. "A podium finish was achievable," he said. "That would have been a dream start for Red Bull. I was starting to dream for a while – but I still can't complain."
His team-mate Christian Klien finished seventh, behind Michelin runners Mark Webber (BMW WilliamsF1 Team) and Juan Pablo Montoya (Team McLaren Mercedes). Michelin drivers took all but one of the top eight places. Kimi Räikkönen (Team McLaren Mercedes) started from the pits after stalling on the grid and causing the original start to be aborted, but he fought back to take the final point. "The positive outcomes of the opening race are the very good performance from our Michelin tyres and that we had the pace to win and as a result are looking forward to Malaysia and the rest of the season." said Ron Dennis, Team Principal, West McLaren Mercedes.
Nick Heidfeld (BMW WilliamsF1 Team/Michelin) looked set to score points on his first start for his new team, but he tangled with defending world champion Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) with 15 laps to go. Schumacher had been fighting his way through the field after starting at the tail of the field: he ran in the worst of the rain during Saturday's first qualifying session and was also penalised for a pre-race engine change.
Heidfeld was the only Michelin runner not to finish. Felipe Massa (Sauber) was classified 10th, ahead of Jenson Button (B·A·R-Honda, 11th), Ralf Schumacher (Toyota, 12th), Villeneuve (13th) and Takuma Sato (B·A·R-Honda, 14th). Teams will now make their way to Sepang, Malaysia, where the second round of the championship takes place on March 20.
Pierre Dupasquier, Michelin motorsport director: "We finished 2004 with a flourish – and it is very satisfying to begin the new season in similar fashion.
"We came to Australia envisaging all kinds of situations that might arise because of the latest regulations, but everything has run smoothly. We had no tyre wear problems at all. The temperatures were cooler than expected, so we had quite a margin to play with – it was clear from Giancarlo Fisichella's performance in the closing stages of the race, when he set his fastest lap, that he had been pacing himself very comfortably.
"Today's result vindicates the hard work we have done during the winter and gives us an excellent platform on which to build for the rest of the season. This has been a very productive weekend, because we had an early opportunity to assess our wet-weather tyres, which performed very favourably, as well as our dries. We won't rest on our laurels, though, because we know that there's plenty of hard work to do in the months ahead."
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering, Mild Seven RenaultF1 Team: "The new rules are very demanding on tyres, but we couldn't have asked for more than Michelin gave us today. Our Michelin tyres were fantastic and consistent, the wear rates were well under control and our cars' balance hardly changed from start to finish. Michelin has tackled an extremely difficult problem in a very professional way and our thanks go to Michelin."
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