06/03/2005
NEWS STORY
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With the tedium that was Sunday qualifying out of the way, we now look forward to the first race of the 2005 Formula One World Championship.
Thus far, the weekend has been dominated by the battle between Minardi boss Paul Stoddart and the FIA, an issue that has become almost as tiresome as the new qualifying format.
We're unsure what to expect today, as what we've seen thus far this weekend hasn't really allowed us to gauge a fair idea of how the various team, and drivers, compare. However, it's safe to say that the fact that so many of the real racers are towards the back of the grid, we can hopefully expect some overtaking.
The new rules, especially those relating to engines and tyres, are going to play their part in the outcome of today's race, but let's hope that they do what is intended, namely to spice up the sport, rather than allow the strategists to take control - more than they have already.
The smart money has to be on Giancarlo Fisichella, though it would be foolhardy to right off the McLarens, Alonso or even that man Schumacher.
No disrespect but nothing we've seen thus far this weekend, or indeed in testing, suggests that we'll see a WilliamsF1, Sauber, Toyota or even BAR take victory today.
Right now, the main thing is that the field gets through the first few corners without any mishaps, Melbourne has witnessed several major mishaps in the past, on one notable occasion with tragic results. There are several F1 'virgins' on the grid today, several of them ahead of highly experienced chargers.
It's overcast, but there's no real threat of rain. The air temperature is 19 degrees C, while the track temperature is 26 degrees.
Massa and Sato are starting from the back row of the grid, both having opted to change engines.
The cars head off on the warm up lap, the season is underway in earnest.
As the cars line up on the grid it appears that Kimi Raikkonen has a problem. He waves his hands, a yellow =flag is waved, and the field is sent out on another parade lap. As the field disappears, the Finn is pushed back into the pitlane, from where he will have to start.
The grid lines up once again.
The lights go out and Fisichella makes a great start, as do Webber and Coulthard. The entire field gets cleanly away.
It's heart in mouth time as the pack sorts itself out. At the end of the first lap it's Fisi from Trulli, Coulthard, Webber, Heidfeld and Klien. Michael Schumacher is up to fifteenth with Raikkonen right behind him. Villeneuve has dropped to ninth.
Raikkonen is all over Schumacher, who is clearly nursing his tyres.
At the end of lap two it's Fisi leading Trulli by 1.4s, with Coulthard a further 1.3s down the road.
On lap three, Fisichella posts a new fastest lap (1:29.164), as he extends his lead to 1.6s. Webber and Heidfeld are running nose to tail and closing in on Coulthard. Elsewhere, Michael and Raikkonen are shadowing Sato. Jenson Button is running in eleventh.
Another fastest lap for Fisichella, as Montoya closes in on Klien, who is running right behind Heidfeld.
Fisichella extends his lead to 1.8s as Coulthard starts to fall away from Trulli and into the clutches of Webber.
At the back of the field, the Jordans are running seventeenth and eighteenth, 12s ahead of Friesacher and Albers. That's after just 6 laps.
Fisichella leads Trulli by 1.9s, as Alonso makes a great move on Villeneuve to take ninth, only for the Canadian to re-take the Renault at the next corner.
It's the same old story, lots of cars are running close together, but few are willing to take a risk and make a move.
After 8 laps, Fisi leads Trulli, from Coulthard, Webber, Heidfeld, Klien, Montoya, Barrichello, Villeneuve and Alonso.
On lap 9 it's Trulli that goes quickest (1:27.852) though he's 2s down on Fisichella. Coulthard is now 6s behind.
After 9 laps, the Minardis are 25s behind the Jordans and over a minute behind Fisichella.
Fisichella hits back with a 1:27.692, as he extends his lead to 2.1s. Elsewhere, Montoya goes quickest in the second sector. Alonso has lost a piece of his bargeboard, which will be affecting the handling of his Renault.
There are several good scraps - Coulthard/Webber, Klien/Montoya, Villeneuve/Alonso, Button/Ralf and Michael/Raikkonen, but nothing's actually happening. The gaps remain fairly static.
With 14 laps completed, Fisichella leads Trulli by 2s, the Toyota putting on a great show. Elsewhere, Michael and Raikkonen are still running behind Sato. After just 15 laps the Minardis have been lapped.
Webber makes a move on Coulthard and it nearly ends in tears, elsewhere, Friesacher is the first to stop for fuel. That was the Minardi running light?
The scrap between Webber and Coulthard is the one to watch at this time, the Scot posting a new fastest lap (1:26.853). Meanwhile Alonso finally makes it stick on Villeneuve, who now has former teammate Jenson Button closing in.
At the end of lap 18, Trulli and Heidfeld both pit, as do Albers and Monteiro.
With Trulli having stopped, Fisichella now leads Coulthard by 9.3s. Back in the pits Albers appears to be the first casualty of the race.
Ralf Schumacher pits, which gives an indication of the 'true' pace of the Toyotas. Teammate Trulli has re-joined the race in seventh position.
End of lap 20 and Webber pits, as DC posts another fastest lap. Klien pits as does Sato, thereby releasing Michael Schumacher.
A 1:26.573 sees Alonso go quickest, the Spaniard is flying.
Coulthard pits at the end of lap 21, as Alonso posts another fastest lap (1:26.473).
Fisichella now leads Montoya, who is ahead of Barrichello, Alonso, Coulthard, Webber, Trulli and Villeneuve.
Ralf Schumacher pits again, clearly the Toyota has a problem.
At the end of lap 22, Fisichella finally pits, as does Montoya, thereby handing the lead to Barrichello. Meanwhile, Alonso posts another fastest lap (1:26.066).
Michael and Kimi are now up to tenth and eleventh, and closing in on Heidfeld, as Alonso posts yet another fastest lap.
Barrichello now leads, but pits at the end of lap 25, as does Alonso. Therefore Fisichella is back in the lead, ahead of Coulthard and Webber. Michael Schumacher and Massa are the only drivers that haven't stopped.
At the end of lap 26 Michael stops, but it's a very short one, will he be making a second stop? Massa pits a lap later.
27 laps completed and Fisichella leads Coulthard by 12s, with Webber third ahead of Barrichello, Montoya, Trulli, Alonso, Klien, Heidfeld and Raikkonen. What's odd is the way Trulli has slipped back.
Coulthard leads Webber by just 0.8s, while Trulli has Alonso all over him. Klien is under pressure from Heidfeld, while Button is right on Villeneuve's tail.
After 31 laps, Fisichella leads Coulthard by 12.8s, while Alonso has passed former teammate Trulli to take sixth. Raikkonen is now running ninth, 6.8s ahead of Michael Schumacher.
As Coulthard and Webber battle for second, Barrichello is 3.6s behind the Australian, with Montoya a further 4.3s behind and Alonso 5.9s down the road.
The BARS are running thirteenth and fourteenth, with Button ahead of Sato.
34 laps completed and Fisichella leads DC by 12.2s while Webber has closed to within 0.3s of the Scot.
Kimi Raikkonen appears to have a piece of bodywork underneath his car, though it's unclear if it's his or someone else's. He is losing 2.5s a lap to Schumacher, who is now 4.6s behind.
At the end of lap 36, Trulli makes his second stop, as Monteiro spins.
37 laps completed, and it's Fisichella, Coulthard, Webber, Barrichello, Montoya, Alonso, Klien, Heidfeld, Raikkonen and Michael.
Behind the top ten, Trulli, Villeneuve, Button and Sato are running nose-to-tail, separated by just 1.7s.
At the end of lap 39 Webber pits, as do Raikkonen and Villeneuve. The McLaren crew removes the loose bodywork from the Finn's car.
Next time around, Klien, Heidfeld and Karthikeyan pit.
Alonso goes quickest in the second sector, are we going to see another fastest lap? Sato and Ralf both pit.
Webber, under pressure from Michael, locks up, which won't do his tyres any good.
At the end of lap 41, Fisichella pits, his final stop. Montoya, Coulthard, Michael and Button also pit.
Schumacher makes a move on Heidfeld, but there's a coming together and both drivers are out. Somehow Schumacher gets going again, but will he be Blackflagged?
It's hard to say who was to blame, however Schumacher drives back to the pits and into his garage, his race is over.
Fernando Alonso now leads, from teammate Giancarlo Fisichella. However, at the end of lap 45 the Spaniard pits.
Therefore, Barrichello is now running second to Fisichella, with Alonso third ahead of Coulthard, Webber and Montoya. Klien and Raikkonen make up the top 8.
Although we've seen a superb drive form Fisichella, Alonso has been truly outstanding.
The Spaniard is 1.4s behind the Ferrari, and is a sure fire guarantee that he is not going to settle for third place.
Other than Barrichello and Alonso it unlikely that we're going to see any major changes, the running order appears to have settled down.
That said, Ralf Schumacher passes Villeneuve to take thirteenth.
The gap between Barrichello and Alonso is down to 1.6s, as Fisichella enjoys a lead of 6.8s.
Coulthard is losing time as he attempts to lap Villeneuve, while Patrick Friesacher's mobile chicane - aka a Minardi - doesn't help.
Alonso has got the gap down to 1.5s but it's unlikely he's going to take second from Barrichello.
Meanwhile, Webber has closed to within 1s of Coulthard. Villeneuve is finally shown the blue flags that warn him that he must allow Coulthard to pass.
Fisichella takes a well deserved win, the Italian driving a perfect race. Rubens Barrichello takes second, while Alonso takes fine third. DC and Webber finish fourth and fifth but will surely wonder how on earth they lost ground to Barrichello and Alonso, the answer is simple, good strategy.
A disappointing day for McLaren with Montoya an unconvincing sixth and Raikkonen the lat of the point scorers.
A perfect F1 debut for Red Bull, which in addition to DC's fourth place, gets another two points courtesy of Christian Klien.
Trulli finishes ninth ahead of Massa, Toyota clearly has a long, long way to go. While Button, and teammate Sato, fully exploit the new rules by returning to the pits rather than taking the chequered flag, thereby leaving them clear to make use of a fresh engine in Malaysia in two weeks.
Quite how Villeneuve ended up thirteenth having started fourth remains to be seen, while the Schumacher/Heidfeld incident is sure to attract much coverage.
Hardly a great race, but certainly a well deserved win for both Fisichella and Renault. A win which will hopefully fire up the opposition.
Lets hope that formula One can learn a few lessons from this weekend. Namely, look at the qualifying format, sort out the engine loopholes, and end the pathetic squabbling between the FIA and Paul Stoddart.