Hakkinen held pole until David Coulthard stole it from the reigning world champion with a few minutes to go. Hakkinen, not to be outdone, on his final attempt retook pole with a blistering lap. The Mclaren team were concerned about their lack of reliability and pace before the weekend, and while reliability is still a concern, the pace of their cars is not.

Michael Schumacher started the Australian Grand Prix in third position. As ever, Schumacher was busy wringing the neck of the Ferrari in order to set a lap time. Perhaps a reflection of the car at the moment is better illustrated by Irvine's 6th place which was earned after three off-track excursions. Schumacher also had a nasty moment, leaving the circuit at the fast 4th turn, but managing to keep the car going in a straight line. The Ferrari team claim that their new car is good and has lots of potential, but for "various reasons" are unable to display their full speed at Melbourne.

Rubens Barrichello continued the surprisingly superb form of the Stewart-Ford team. The new chassis is powered by an all new Ford V10 and appears to be both reliable and powerful. The Brazilian's 4th place on the grid is the highest position a Stewart car has qualified. Heinz-Harald Frentzen has settled quickly into the Jordan-Mugen-Honda team, beating Damon Hill in qualifying with the two ex-Williams drivers starting 5th and 9th respectively. The two Benetton drivers made it into the top 10 with Fisichella claiming 7th spot, ahead of Wurz in 10th. The team are still using their FTT system on the B199 chassis, but seemingly with little great benefit - although the team are the fastest of the Mecachrome brigade.

Ralf Schumacher drove hard and looked at home in the Williams FW21, duly setting 8th fastest time. In contrast, Alessandro Zanardi did not look like he was enjoying his first qualifying session in a number of years. Zanardi could do no better than 15th place on the grid, but then again, qualifying has never been the Italian's forte, so perhaps he was concentrating on a good race setup.

The Mclarens were predicted to walk into the distance on race day unless Ferrari could make some serious progress over night. It was suggested that it would be Barrichello that took the fight to the Mclarens because surely they will not be challenging each other... that wouldn't be racing... would it?

Right from the outset it was drama all the way in Melbourne. As the 22 cars went out for their formation lap, the two Mclarens were in trouble. Mika Hakkinen got into the spare car and drove out of his pit - with his car still attached to the garage computers. Teammate David Coulthard meanwhile was experiencing clutch problems. With minutes to go before the start of the race, the Mclaren mechanics were swarming all over the silver and black machines. As the cars lined up on the grid, both of the Stewarts started to smoke. Rubens Barrichello ran back to the garage and climbed into the t-car, whilst Herbert's day was over before it had begun.

At the beginning of the 2nd warm-up lap before the re-start, Mika was slow to get away. Michael Schumacher stalled on the grid, as did Takagi. With Barrichello starting from the pit-lane, Michael Schumacher was forced to start from the back of the grid - however it appears that he should not have. Although Michael did not get away for the warm-up properly, neither did Takagi, who needed the assistance of his mechanics. When the race did finally get under way, it was, as expected the Mclarens who streaked into the distance. Meanwhile Jean Alesi was left stranded in the middle of the grid, whilst Hill didn't make it beyond the 3rd corner. This was going to be a long afternoon!

Hakkinen, Coulthard, Irvine, Frentzen, Ralf Schumacher and Fisichella. That was the order after 4 laps. The 1st placed Mclaren had a lead of 9.4s over Irvine's 3rd placed Ferrari - a serious case of deja vu. Michael Schumacher meanwhile had climbed to 13th in a repeat of his Suzuka charge. The Mclarens went on their merry way, leaving the opposition to watch in awe - however nobody was forgetting the frenzied activity of those final moments before the start - could Mclaren go the distance? By the end of lap 10, the Mclarens were 15s ahead of Irvine.

On lap 14, Alessandro Zanardi was the first driver to stop for fuel. However back on the track, Villeneuve experienced a rear wing failure in the promising BAR at Turn 11 - luckily the Canadian was unhurt. Meanwhile, the chink in the Mclaren armour finally cracked wide open when David Coulthard drove straight into his garage with hydraulics problems.

The safety car came out as debris from Villeneuve's accident was cleared from the track. In one fell swoop, Hakkinen's 17s lead over Irvine had evaporated. For several laps the field followed the safety car - Hakkinen, Irvine, Frentzen, Ralf Schumacher, Fisichella, Trulli then Michael Schumacher. The safety car pulled off and as the cars raced for the line, Hakkinen appeared to be in trouble - Irvine, Frentzen, Ralf Schumacher, Trulli all swarmed past the ailing Silver Arrow. Hakkinen headed back to the pits. After a long stop he was waved back onto the track, the mechanics unable to find the car's problem. Fisichella (seemingly clouted when the safety car pulled off) returned to his pit for a new nose at the same time. So, with Eddie Irvine leading, his teammate in 5th - and closing, Zanardi loses control, his car bounces from one side of the track to the other... out comes the safety car again.

Irvine, Frentzen, Ralf, Michael, Diniz, Wurz, Zonta, Takagi and Panis. 4 laps later and the safety car heads back to the pits.. the race is on - again! Gene (Minardi) and Trulli (Prost) clash, both are out on the spot. Putting an end to Alain Prost's weekend, Olivier Panis pulls off the track. Michael Schumacher who is now running in 4th slowly made his way back to the pits. His right rear tyre punctured and his front wing askew - this was certainly not going to be his day. Irvine now leads Frentzen by 0.8s, with Ralf Schumacher a further 1.9s behind him. Rubens Barrichello meanwhile is the fastest man on the track. Alexander Wurz' day's work is done when the suspension on his Benetton fails - meanwhile Barrichello has been given a 10s penalty. With 31 laps completed, there were only 10 runners left in the race - Irvine, Frentzen, Ralf, Takagi, Fisichella, Badoer, de la Rosa, Zonta, Michael and Barrichello - the rookies are having a great day!

Irvine now leads Frentzen by just 1.5s, whilst Ralf Schumacher looks on from 3rd. On lap 34, the two leaders make their pit stops. Irvine re-enters the race still in the lead. Frentzen however re-joins just behind Fisichella. Fisi has a quick go at Irvine, whose tyres are still cold. The Ulsterman manages to hold him off. The order is now Irvine, Fisichella, Frentzen, Ralf Schumacher, De La Rosa and Takagi. On lap 37, Fisichella pits re-joining in 5th. Michael Schumacher then decides on a last minute pit stop. His crew however isn't ready so he drives straight on through. The Ferrari is obviously in trouble. As he returns to the pit in the next lap, the crew are waiting - with a new steering wheel. Problem solved.

Irvine now leads by 5.2s from Frentzen, followed by Ralf, De La Rosa, Fisichella and Takagi. Rookie De La Rosa (who is seemingly headed for the history books) makes his one and only pit stop returning to the fray in 5th position. Barrichello meanwhile has taken 6th from Takagi while Zonta keeps a watching eye from the BAR. De La Rosa seems to lose momentum and Barrichello takes his chance to slip through to 4th. Irvine's lead has slipped to 4.7s and Frentzen closes. Ralf Schumacher puts in a late charge, while his brother is reeling off a succession of fastest laps - seemingly pointless at this stage of the race, but proving the Ferrari's reliability.

On the last lap it looked as though Eddie had a problem - Frentzen catching him hand over fist. However it turns out that the Ferrari is fine and Eddie's got it totally under control. Earlier in the day it had all looked so black for Ferrari. With Michael Schumacher on the back row and the Mclarens racing into the distance it was Maranello's worst nightmare come true.

Surely noone can begrudge Irvine this popular victory. The Ulsterman has finally broken his duck and in doing so driven a remarkably cool race. Frentzen will give Jordan something to build on, whilst Ralf seemed to be holding back in the Williams. A superb performance from Barrichello saw Stewart salvage something from what looked like being a horrendous afternoon. Meanwhile Arrows will be delighted with their young chargers.

A strange race that leaves many questions that must be answered. We know that the Mclarens are in a league of their own - however once again reliability has shown itself to be their weak point. Secondly we have seen more and more "incidents" this weekend. This must alert the powers that be (i.e. the FIA) to the fact that the fears (expressed by drivers) concerning tyre grip should be listened to. Similarly there have already been predictions that rear wing failure would lead to tragedy. It is very fortunate that despite the high number of incidents, there have been no injuries this weekend. However we must not get complacent - the lessons of 1994 can not be forgotten.