Ferrari 1-2 at Season Opener in Australia

By Erik Nielsen
Photos courtesy and copyright Ferrari Media

If you were a Ferrari fan this weekend, you would have been ecstatic. The team showed that it hadn't gained any excess weight over the holiday season and that the new car was quick right out of the box. Michael Schumacher ran what could be called a perfect race and lead from start to finish. In the process, over the weekend, he set a new track record and almost lapped the entire field. Rubens played the strong number two driver again and was several seconds back at the end, but still even further than the third place car of Fernando Alonso's Renault. He was able to keep up with his team mate at the beginning, but complained of a long brake pedal. Well, at least it gives the engineers something to do before Malaysia.

If you weren't a Ferrari fan, well, you probably either got a good nap or were bored stiff depending which time zone you were in. The Renault did show effort and Alonso did make a hard charge, but the car was clearly off the pace.

Flavio was happy that his new driver made the podium. Makes up for the fact that he's got a bastard kid on the way. Nope, even a championship for the Spaniard won't make up for that.

If you're a Williams fan, 2004 is going to be a long one. Juan Pablo Montoya announced early that he would be driving for McLaren next year and it was only a couple of days after the race that Ralf announced he would be going to Renault. Doesn't look like any of Sir Frank's sponsors will get happy campers at their required promotional activities this year. They did manage 4th and 5th in this weekend's outing.

Jenson Button tried to keep the Williams boys at bay, but had to settle for 6th at the end of the day. Probably a better result that Villeneuve could have achieved. The team should raise the BAR now that that boat anchor is gone.

The other Renault of Jarno Trulli came in 7th place (and a lap down) and the last point of the day was captured by David Coulthard. What's he worried about, not like he's worried about getting fired. Now, if he is able to keep ahead of Kimi all season, maybe Ron Dennis will have an all new driver line up for 2005 too.

As for every one else, there weren't too many surprises. Jaguar still sucks. Toyota will probably fire another round of drivers before they realize it might be something with the car. Jordan will continue to pray for a 14 car pile up at the start that doesn't get red flagged. And Paul Stoddard will still just be happy to poop in every real team principal's oatmeal at breakfast and try and blackmail the rest of the field. In other words, nothing has changed, 2004 is 2003 revisited. The circus continues in Malaysia in two weeks.

RESULTS

1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 58 1:24:15.757 1
2 Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 58 +13.6 secs 2
3 Fernando Alonso Renault 58 +34.6 secs 5
4 Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 58 +60.4 secs 5
5 Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 58 +68.5 secs 4
6 Jenson Button BAR-Honda 58 +70.5 secs 3
7 Jarno Trulli Renault 57 +1 Lap 9
8 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 57 +1 Lap 12
9 Takuma Sato BAR-Honda 57 +1 Lap 7
10 Giancarlo Fisichella Sauber-Petronas 57 +1 Lap 14
11 Christian Klien Jaguar-Cosworth 56 +2 Lap 19
12 Cristiano da Matta Toyota 56 +2 Lap 13
13 Olivier Panis Toyota 56 +2 Lap 18
14 Giorgio Pantano Jordan-Ford 55 +3 Lap 16
Ret Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas 44 Engine 11
Ret Nick Heidfeld Jordan-Ford 43 Transmission 15
Ret Gianmaria Bruni Minardi-Cosworth 43 +15 Lap 20
Ret Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 29 Transmission 6
Ret Zsolt Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth 13 Electrical 17
Ret Kimi Rikknen McLaren-Mercedes 9 Engine 10
Fastest Lap: Michael Schumacher 1'24.125