F1: Schumacher quickest of eight finishers
Michael Schumacher launched his bid for a record-equalling fifth drivers’ crown with victory in an extraordinary Australian Grand Prix which just eight cars finished in Melbourne this morning.
The German completed an Albert Park hat-trick in last year’s Ferrari after the field had been decimated by first-corner collisions involving eight cars.
Schumacher extended his all-time record of career wins to 54 in a 58-lap race with a commanding victory margin of almost 19 seconds over the Williams-BMW of Juan Pablo Montoya.
Finland’s Kimi Raikkonen grabbed the first podium of his career with third spot on his McLaren debut while Britain’s Eddie Irvine incredibly ended a catastrophic weekend for Jaguar Racing with fourth place.
And Minardi scored their first points in over two years with home hero Mark Webber clinging on to fifth on his debut while Finland’s Mika Salo gave newcomers Toyota Racing the perfect start with sixth place.
David Coulthard ground to a stop on the circuit with brake problems in his McLaren having led early on while Jenson Button’s first race for Renault and 32-year-old Allan McNish’s grand prix bow for Toyota ended at the first corner.
The carnage was sparked when Ralf Schumacher’s Williams-BMW rammed the back-end then spectacularly flew-over the Ferrari of pole winner Rubens Barrichello as they battled for the lead, sending both crashing out.
Schumacher, who had started in third place, had cut inside the Ferrari of older brother Michael and was looking to challenge Barrichello but as the Brazilian moved across he hit the Ferrari and was sent airborne.
The 25-year-old flew onto the grass where he was joined by Barrichello and then second later six cars collided forcing race officials to send the safety car out, though there was no decision to order a restart.
It was a disappointingly early end for Button, in his first race for Renault, formerly Benetton, and for McNish, who has waited 12 years since first testing a car to race in Formula One.
Coulthard, runner-up in last season’s championship and looking for an opening day victory, then led with Schumacher senior having lost places by drifting wide to avoid the carnage.
But just as the safety car was returning to the pits for a second time having been deployed when Renault’s Jarno Trulli crashed out Coulthard went wide and onto the grass as he attempted to speed up on lap 12.
The 30-year-old Scot then developed a mechanical problem and had dropped from fourth to seventh by the time he just stopped on the circuit.
Montoya had produced another astonishing overtaking move on Schumacher to take the lead following Coulthard’s trip to the grass, but the four-time champion responded a few laps later with his own thrilling pass at a chicane.
Schumacher then used the extra pace of the 2001 car to cruise to a third victory in succession at Albert Park with Montoya and Raikkonen joining him on the podium.
Ulsterman Irvine somehow grabbed three points after picking his way through the carnage and retirements having started from 19th place after a nightmare weekend for Jaguar, still battling to sort out flaws in the car.
Webber got a dream debut for the team owned by British-based Australian businessman Paul Stoddart, while Salo finally took sixth for Toyota despite almost spinning out as he tried to snatch fifth place in the closing laps.
Arrows completed the extraordinary season opener with both Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Enrique Bernoldi disqualified after both started racing having stalled on the grid before the parade lap.
Result of the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne today (58 laps)
1 Michael Schumacher (Ger, Ferrari) one hour 35 minutes 36.792 seconds,
2 Juan Pablo Montoya (Col, Williams) at 18.628 secs,
3 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin, McLaren) at 25.067 secs,
4 Eddie Irvine (Gbr, Jaguar) at one lap,
5 Mark Webber (Aus, Minardi) at 2 laps,
6 Mika Salo (Fin, Toyota) at 2 laps,
7 Alex Yoong (Mal, Minardi) at 3 laps,
8 Pedro de la Rosa (Spa, Jaguar) at 5 laps.
Not Classified: David Coulthard (Gbr, McLaren) Did Not Finish (33 laps completed), Jacques Villeneuve (Can, British American Racing) DNF (27 laps), Takuma Sato (Jap, Jordan) DNF (12 laps), Jarno Trulli DNF (Ita, Renault) (8 laps), Rubens Barrichello (Ger, Ferrari) DNF (0 laps), Ralf Schumacher (Ger, Williams) DNF (0 laps), Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita, Jordan) DNF (0 laps), Felipe Massa (Bra, Sauber) DNF (0 laps), Nick Heidfeld (Ger, Sauber) DNF (0 laps), Jenson Button (Gbr, Renault) DNF (0 laps), Olivier Panis (Fra, British American Racing) DNF (0 laps), Allan McNish (Gbr, Toyota) DNF (0 laps). Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Ger, Arrows) Disqualified, Enrique Bernoldi (Bra, Arrows) Disqualified.
Fastest Lap: K Raikkonen 1:28.541 (on lap 37).
