 Australian Grand Prix (Melbourne) 2002 review.
Story by Andrew Frampton.
Michael Schumacher began the defence of his Formula One crown in the best possible way, with victory in a dramatic Australian Grand Prix. It was a memorable event for the German, as he held off Juan Pablo Montoya after avoiding the carnage at the first corner, which put eight cars out of the race on the spot.
Qualifying took place in mixed conditions as the early sun turned to rain showers. Rubens Barrichello surprised many by taking pole position, five hundredths of a second ahead of his team-mate Michael Schumacher. Ralf Schumacher took third, as David Coulthard edged out Kimi Raikkonen in the battle of the McLarens to take fourth, with Montoya in sixth. The Renault of Jarno Trulli, Giancarlo Fisichella (Jordan) and the two Saubers of Nick Heidfeld and Felipe Massa completed the top ten. Of the British hopefuls, Jenson Button was 11th, debutante Allan McNish 15th and Eddie Irvine 19th.
The race was only a few seconds old when we were to be hit by the first drama of the afternoon's amazing events. Ralf Schumacher was fastest away, but came across Barrichello's Ferrari in his path. The Williams was launched over the top of Barrichello's Ferrari, before landing on all four wheels in the gravel trap. Behind, there was a chain-reaction accident, which saw the cars of Heidfeld, Massa, Button, Fisichella, McNish and Olivier Panis eliminated along with Barrichello and Ralf Schumacher. The safety car was deployed as the marshals struggled to clear the wreckage, and after five laps, racing resumed.
At this point David Coulthard held the lead from Trulli, Montoya, M Schumacher, Irvine and Pedro De La Rosa. However, Trulli was soon under pressure from Schumacher, who had passed Montoya, and the Renault driver spun into a wall on lap nine, bringing the safety car out once again. Coulthard's lead would be short-lived as gear selection problems were costing the Scot time, and he ran onto the grass on lap 10, falling to fourth. As the intermittent problem worsened, Coulthard fell back through the field, eventually calling it a day on lap 34.
Following the safety car intermission, Montoya was looking to re-pass Schumacher, having lost his place earlier in the race, and the Colombian drove around the outside of the champion on the first corner of lap 11. His lead was short-lived however, as Schumacher repaid the compliment four laps later by going round the outside of the Williams in turn 2. The classic Schumacher/Montoya duel that had thrilled the fans on several occasions last season failed to materialise in Australia, as the German made the most of his tyres to pull away. The pit-stops came and went for the top two, and although Montoya was still pressing as hard as possible, the gap was not reducing. Now closing on Montoya was the surviving McLaren of Kimi Raikkonen, who was delayed in the first corner incident and now on a charge. However, the Finn could only get to within seven seconds of Montoya, who in turn was 18 seconds behind Schumacher at the flag.
The Jaguar cars had looked poor in qualifying, with Eddie Irvine and Pedro De La Rosa in 19th and 20th positions respectively. They were fifth and sixth at the end of the first lap, and while the Spaniard fell back and was the final classified finisher in eighth (five laps down) Irvine held on to take fourth position. However, the drive of the race must go to Mark Webber, who, in his first ever F1 event, took an amazing fifth position for the Minardi team. Despite being an Italian team, Minardi has close ties down-under with both Webber and team boss Paul Stoddart Australians. Webber overcame a jammed fuel hose during his pit stop and accident damage courtesy of the first corner incident, to keep Toyota's Mika Salo at bay over the closing laps. Stoddart had already doubled his aim of scoring a point in the championship, in the first race!
Salo would have surely taken the place from Webber if he had not spun while attempting to make a pass on the penultimate lap. However, sixth position in the team's first race, when they were unsure if they would even qualify for the event, was a just reward. Sauber, Jordan, Renault, BAR and Arrows had the humility of neither driver finishing the event, especially Arrows for whom Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Enrique Bernoldi were disqualified after stalling on the formation lap and illegally rejoining the event.
However, it was a good day for Ferrari, Jaguar, Minardi and Toyota who all beat the odds to secure fantastic results. In two weeks time, it is off to Kuala Lumpur for the Malaysian Grand Prix, and the seemingly inevitable Michael Schumacher victory? We will have to wait and see…..
Race Result (and championship standings)
1. Michael Schumacher (Ferrari)
2. Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams)
3. Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren)
4. Eddie Irvine (Jaguar)
5. Mark Webber (Minardi)
6. Mika Salo (Toyota)
2002 F1 season calendar
03/03/2002 - Australian Grand Prix (Melbourne)
- Australia circuit by JR
- Australia preview by AF
- Australia grid by JR
- Australia review by AF
- Australia lap-by-lap by JR
17/03/2002 - Malaysian Grand Prix (Sepang)
- Malaysia circuit by JR
- Malaysia preview by AF
- Malaysia grid by JR
- Malaysia review by AF
- Malaysia lap-by-lap by JR
31/03/2002 - Brazilian Grand Prix (Sao Paulo)
- Brazil circuit by JR
- Brazil preview by AF
- Brazil grid by JR
- Brazil review by AF
- Brazil lap-by-lap by JR
14/04/2002 - San Marino Grand Prix (Imola)
- San Marino circuit by JR
- San Marino preview by AF
- San Marino grid by JR
- San Marino review by AF
- San Marino lap-by-lap by JR
28/04/2002 - Spanish Grand Prix (Barcelona)
- Spain circuit by JR
- Spain preview by AF
- Spain grid by JR
- Spain review by AF
- Spain lap-by-lap by JR
12/05/2002 - Austrian Grand Prix (Spielberg)
- Austria circuit by JR
- Austria preview by AF
- Austria grid by JR
- Austria review by AF
- Austria lap-by-lap by JR
26/05/2002 - Grand Prix de Monaco (Monaco)
- Monaco circuit by JR
- Monaco preview by AF
- Monaco grid by JR
- Monaco review by AF
- Monaco lap-by-lap by JR
09/06/2002 - Canadian Grand Prix (Montreal)
- Canada circuit by JR
- Canada preview by AF
- Canada grid by JR
- Canada review by AF
- Canada lap-by-lap by JR
23/06/2002 - European Grand Prix (Nürburgring)
- Europe circuit by JR
- Europe grid by JR
- Europe review by AF
- Europe lap-by-lap by JR
07/07/2002 - British Grand Prix (Silverstone)
- Britain circuit by JR
- Britain grid by JR
- Britain review by AF
- Britain lap-by-lap by JR
21/07/2002 - French Grand Prix (Magny-Cours)
- France circuit by JR
- France preview by AF
- France grid by JR
- France review by AF
- France lap-by-lap by JR
28/07/2002 - German Grand Prix (Hockenheim)
- Germany circuit by JR
- Germany preview by AF
- Germany grid by JR
- Germany review by AF
- Germany lap-by-lap by JR
18/08/2002 - Hungarian Grand Prix (Budapest)
- Hungary circuit by JR
- Hungary grid by JR
- Hungary lap-by-lap by JR
01/09/2002 - Belgian Grand Prix (Spa Francorchamps)
- Belgium circuit by JR
- Belgium grid by JR
- Belgium review by AF
- Belgium lap-by-lap by JR
15/09/2002 - Italian Grand Prix (Monza)
- Italy circuit by JR
- Italy grid by JR
- Italy lap-by-lap by JR
29/09/2002 - American Grand Prix (Indianapolis)
- USA circuit by JR
- USA grid by JR
- USA lap-by-lap by JR
13/10/2002 - Japanese Grand Prix (Suzuka)
- Japan circuit by JR
- Japan grid by JR
- Japan review by AF
- Japan lap-by-lap by JR
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