Back from the race
Back from the Grand prix filled with drama and suspense. Not so much on the track but off it. Minardi ended up racing but only after an intervention by the Victorian Supreme Court which became the root of all problems. Because the court thought they can circumvent the rules regulating an international event by allowing a team to field cars that don't conform to the current spec, the Federation International de l'Automobile (FIA) is threatening to ban Australia from staging any future FIA event especially the Formula 1 Grand Prix. This means this may well have been the last Australian Grand Prix ever if this month's FIA meeting decides so.
Speaking of the race, it was a relatively incident free race which saw only five cars failed to cross the finish line. It was a perfect day for racing as the skies cleared up following yesterday's rain that resulted in a topsy turvy grid standing. There was some overcast late in the race but there was not a drop of rain.
Kimi Räikkönen stalled at the grid so he had to start from the pit lane while Michael Schumacher started from the back of the grid following a disastrous first qualifying session that caught him in the wet with dry tires.
Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella cruised through the entire race from pole position facing almost no challenge whatsoever and only losing first place to Ferrari's Rubens Barichello who desperately tried to chase him back after his own turn to pit. In the end it was Renault one and three with Barichello splitting the French team as Fernando Alonso clung to third place.
While it was a fantastic result for Renault, the other three big names, Williams, Ferrari and McLaren, had an otherwise relatively quiet race. Barichello's teammate, Michael Schumacher, who fought from last place to sixth was forced to retire after BMW's Nick Heidfeld crashed in to him following a failed overtaking attempt by the reigning Formula 1 world champion with around 15 laps to go.
Home town hero Mark Webber nearly lost fifth place had Heidfeld not crash into Schumacher but he finished in fifth behind Red Bull's David Coulthard whose teammate Christian Klein drove home in seventh. For Red Bull, they were off to a flying start to the season, posting enough points to finish third in overall standings behind Renault and Ferrari but McLaren was left to ponder after Räikkönen and Montoya had to settle for eighth and sixth respectively.
Minardi's Christijan Albers pulled out early and BAR-Honda's Jenson Button and Takuma Sato, both of whom were out of the points placing went straight into the pit at the final lap to allow a new engine to be used in the next race in Malaysia. The new rules require teams to keep using the same engine to be used in two consecutive races but a non-finisher is exempt.
All in all, it was a very good day at the races, photos at flickr to be posted in a couple of days.
Speaking of the race, it was a relatively incident free race which saw only five cars failed to cross the finish line. It was a perfect day for racing as the skies cleared up following yesterday's rain that resulted in a topsy turvy grid standing. There was some overcast late in the race but there was not a drop of rain.
Kimi Räikkönen stalled at the grid so he had to start from the pit lane while Michael Schumacher started from the back of the grid following a disastrous first qualifying session that caught him in the wet with dry tires.
Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella cruised through the entire race from pole position facing almost no challenge whatsoever and only losing first place to Ferrari's Rubens Barichello who desperately tried to chase him back after his own turn to pit. In the end it was Renault one and three with Barichello splitting the French team as Fernando Alonso clung to third place.
While it was a fantastic result for Renault, the other three big names, Williams, Ferrari and McLaren, had an otherwise relatively quiet race. Barichello's teammate, Michael Schumacher, who fought from last place to sixth was forced to retire after BMW's Nick Heidfeld crashed in to him following a failed overtaking attempt by the reigning Formula 1 world champion with around 15 laps to go.
Home town hero Mark Webber nearly lost fifth place had Heidfeld not crash into Schumacher but he finished in fifth behind Red Bull's David Coulthard whose teammate Christian Klein drove home in seventh. For Red Bull, they were off to a flying start to the season, posting enough points to finish third in overall standings behind Renault and Ferrari but McLaren was left to ponder after Räikkönen and Montoya had to settle for eighth and sixth respectively.
Minardi's Christijan Albers pulled out early and BAR-Honda's Jenson Button and Takuma Sato, both of whom were out of the points placing went straight into the pit at the final lap to allow a new engine to be used in the next race in Malaysia. The new rules require teams to keep using the same engine to be used in two consecutive races but a non-finisher is exempt.
All in all, it was a very good day at the races, photos at flickr to be posted in a couple of days.
This entry was posted
on Sunday, March 06, 2005 at 3:57 PM.
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On Tuesday, March 08, 2005 4:14:00 PM,Welcome! I thought it was a boring race as well, although it didn't seem that way from my entry did it? :D
You still got Silverstone to go to this year.
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