A lap-by lap description of the first grand prix race of the season in Melbourne.
Formation lap: Heinz-Harald Frentzen’s mechanics are still working on his car as the field pulls away. He will receive a penalty if he makes the start. Enrique Bernoldi fails to get away as well. It is a nightmare for Arrows. Both cars are wheeled off the track and look set to miss the start.
Start: Ralf Schumacher makes a great getaway, but gets launched off the back of Rubens Barrichello’s car at about 240 km/h. He careers off into gravel and is very lucky not to roll.
Both Barrichello and Ralf are out. Loads of cars are out and the safety car is on the circuit. Both Saubers are out, Giancarlo Fisichella is out. Oliver Panis is also out. Button’s day is also over, as is Alex Yoong’s.
Kimi Raikkonen is in the pits and seems to have some debris in the cockpit that the mechanics are trying to remove. The accident was caused by Barrichello weaving across in front of Ralf from the inside back to the centre of the track. He braked and then Ralf hit the rear of the Ferrari and was launched into the air.
Ten cars are out. The full list of retirements is: Felipe Massa. Allan McNish, Nick Heidfeld, Jenson Button, Ralf, Barrichello , Fisichella, Panis. Both Arrows failed to start.
The crash was a horrible echo of last year’s accident between Ralf and Jacques Villeneuve, which killed a marshal. Ralf was very lucky not to roll.
Order: David Coulthard, Jarno Trulli, Juan-Pablo Montoya, Michael Schumacher, Eddie Irvine, Pedro de la Rosa, Takumo Sato, Mark Webber.
It is incredible to see the Jaguars in fifth and sixth after qualifying 19th and 20th. An action-packed start to the new season.
Lap 4: The few cars that are left are still circulating behind the safety car.
Lap 6: The safety car pulls off and they go again. Montoya has a look at Trulli into the turn three and runs wide, letting Schumacher through
Lap 7: Schumacher is moving in on Trulli, but the Italian stands firm. Montoya is catching this duo back up again.
Lap 8: Schumacher has a big go into the first corner, but fails to make it through. This allows Montoya to have a go at Schumacher, but he fails to make it.
Lap 9: Trulli loses the Renault on the exit of turn two and he crashes into the barrier. Surprisingly, the car snapped out of control at that point. The safety car is back out again as the Renault is stuck in the middle of the road. During the Trulli- Schumacher battle Couthard pulled out a nine second lad but that is now lost
Lap 10: Both Arrows have started the race from the pit-lane. But they are nine laps behind.
Lap 11: Raikkonen is up into fifth after recovering from his pit stop. The safety car is coming in this lap. Coulthard has gone off on the run up to the restart. Montoya passes Schumacher on the run to the first corner.
Lap 12: A beginner’s mistake from Couthard. He just under-steered off onto the grass on the tight left-hander, which is the penultimate corner.
Lap 13: Schumacher is now right up with the Williams. The pair come up to lap Sato and Montoya nearly clips the back of the Jordan. Schumacher is now all over the Williams.
Lap 14: Raikkonen has moved up to third, but Coulthard is now up with him.
Lap 15: Schumacher has another look into turn three, but Montoya once more rebuffs him. The Ferrari is glued to the rear of the Williams.
Lap 16: Montoya is really struggling to hold off Schumacher.
Lap 17: Schumacher finally gets the Williams on the exit of the first S-bend after Montoya defended too deeply into the first corner. Raikkonen is now up on the rear of the Williams.
Lap 18: Michael is already two seconds up on Montoya. A brilliant battle while it lasted.
Lap 19: Schumacher is five seconds a lap faster than the others. Frentzen is being black-flagged for leaving the pits when the exit light was red. Montoya is picking up the pace again.
Lap 20: Order – Schumacher, Montoya, Raikkonen, Couthard, Irvine, Webber, Villeneuve, Yoong.
Lap 21: Michael sets a new fastest lap with a 1m29.9s. He now just has to keep things going to win the race.
Lap 22: A brilliant performance from Webber in the Minardi to run sixth on his GP debut in his home country.
Lap 23: Another new fastest lap from Schumacher as he continues on his way. Coulthard goes off the track again at the penultimate corner. Couthard’s car looks to be in trouble and he is coasting as Irvine passes him for fourth.
Lap 24: Coulthard continues on his way obviously hoping that the problem will clear itself. It looks like it could be some sort of an electronics glitch.
Lap 25: Order – Schumacher, Montoya, Raikkonen, Irvine, Coulthard, Webber, Villeneuve, Yoong.
Lap 27: Schumacher is 15 sec up on Montoya, while the Colombian is still holding Raikkonen back with the gap fluctuating around the second mark.
Lap 28: Bernoldi has now been black-flagged. There are now only nine cars left with more than half the race still to run
Lap 29: Order – Schumacher, Montoya, Raikkonen, Irvine, Webber, Coulthard, Villeneuve, Yoong.
Lap 30: The gap between Schumacher and Montoya is now 20 seconds. It’s just a walk in the park for the world champion. Villenueve has gone off and is out of the race.
Lap 31: Yoong is in the points in sixth place. Both Minardis are in the top six.
Lap 32: Villeneuve looks as though he lost his rear wing
Lap 34: Montoya is starting to put a bit of daylight between himself and Raikkonen. The gap is now up to three seconds.
Lap 35: Salo pits for his fuel stop.
Lap 36: Schumacher is now 22 sec ahead of Montoya who continues to edge ahead of the McLaren.
Lap 37: Couthard has finally ground to a halt. The car’s engine is still running and sounds sick. He’s pushed to the side of the circuit by the marshals.
Webber makes his stop, but there’s a problem with the fuel rig. He gets out again after a 34 sec pit-stop.
Lap 38: Montoya makes his stop and Michael follows him in quick succession. Both get out and retain their positions.
Lap 39: Raikkonenmakes his stop and understeers off the track exiting the pits and ends up on the grass. He gathers it up and carries on his way.
Lap 40: Salo has overtaken Yoong for sixth place.
Lap 41: Order – Schumacher, Montoya, Raikkonen, Irvine, Webber, Salo, Yoong, De la Rosa.
Lap 43: The gap between Montoya and Raikkonen is starting to grow. He now five seconds ahead of the Finn.
Lap 44: Schumacher is 27 sec ahead of Montoya. One of the fastest men on the track is now De la Rosa. He is lapping three seconds faster than team-mate Irvine.
Lap 46: Raikkonen is still looking a bit ragged in the McLaren. Couthard’s retirement is due to gearbox glitches
Lap 48: Webber is still running strongly in fifth. Salo is still doing a great job on Toyota’s debut in sixth.
Lap 50: Schumacher still comfortably out in front. He now only has eight laps to go before making it a Albert Park hat-trick.
Lap 51: Webber is being caught by Salo’s Toyota in the battle for fifth.
Lap 52: Salo is still homing in on the Minardi
Lap 53: Montoya is being caught by Raikkonen. The gap is down to 4.4 sec, but the Colombian is reacting to the challenge.
Lap 54: The gap between Webber and Salo is now only five seconds
Lap 55: Webber is still trying to hold off Salo, but the Finn is closing the black car down. Although Mark has picked up his pace, it may be too late
Lap 56: Salo is now right on the tail of the Australian
Lap 57: Salo half-spins and fifth is Webber’s. The Toyota driver got sucked into the rear of the Minardi and half-spun on the marbles at turn three.
Finish: Schumacher makes it a hat-trick of Albert victories. A solid second place for Montoya and a good start to Raikkonen’s McLaren career sees him take third.
An unbelievable fourth place for Irvine and even more incredible stories in the remaining points places, with Webber finishing fifth on home turf in his début grand prix and Mika Salo taking a point on Toyota’s début.